Joe Biden is not anti-British, one of his most senior aides has said in response to accusations by the former Democratic Unionist party leader Arlene Foster that the US president “hates the UK”.
Hours after he arrived in Belfast, the purpose of Biden’s short visit to Northern Ireland was being questioned by unionists who have been boycotting power-sharing arrangements in Northern Ireland for more than a year, meaning the territory has no devolved government.
At a briefing in Belfast, Amanda Sloat, the special assistant to Biden and senior director for Europe at the national security council, denied the president’s Irish heritage made him biased against the British in relation to the continued deadlock over the devolved government in Stormont.
“I think the track record of the president shows that he is not anti-British. The president has been very actively engaged throughout his career dating back to when he was a senator in the peace process in Northern Ireland and that involved engagement with leaders of all of Northern Ireland parties from both of the two main communities,” she said.
At a keynote speech at lunchtime Biden will be sending a message underlining the US’s continued support for the peace process in Northern Ireland and his “strong desire” to see enduring economic prosperity and political stability.
He will have a short meeting with Rishi Sunak before his address in which he will discuss strategies to get the devolved government restored along with continued military operations in Ukraine, she said.
Sloat said the UK remained one of the US’s “closest allies” and the two countries would continue to work together.
“I think his message to the DUP and to all the political leaders is going to be … the continued strong support for seeing the peace process move forward here and the strong desire by this president to increase US investment in Northern Ireland to take advantage of the vast economic potential that that seems here and to reiterate broad support for the returning of the devolved government in Northern Ireland,” she added.
Her comments came after Foster claimed Biden “hates the United Kingdom”.
In an interview after he touched down in Belfast on Tuesday night, Foster told GB News: “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. And I just think that he’s coming here won’t put any pressure on the Democratic Unionists at all, quite the reverse because he is seen by so many people to be simply pro-republican and pro-nationalist.”
His four-day visit to the island of Ireland involves just a half-day in Belfast, suggesting his trip has been edited to ensure political temperatures remain cool and all efforts to restore devolved government remain on track.
He will not be discussing a trade deal in his meeting with Sunak, Sloat confirmed and the meeting with the leaders of the five main political parties would not involve any formal negotiations on Stormont.
Speaking to reporters before taking off in Air Force One, Biden said he wanted to safeguard the Good Friday agreement, which was signed 25 years ago this week, and support Sunak’s post-Brexit deal for the region.
Asked what his priorities for the trip were, he said: “Make sure the Irish accords and Windsor agreements stay in place. Keep the peace and that’s the main thing. It looks like we’re going to keep our fingers crossed.”
The former prime minister Tony Blair had advised the president to be cautious in using his influence to lobby the DUP to revive Stormont. “The Americans can play a real role, but it’s something that you need to do carefully,” he said.
