Well, what was it exactly? Rishi Sunak had been adamant that his morning meeting with Joe Biden was a proper bilat. A wide-ranging discussion with full diplomatic status. The US side? Not so much. They saw it as a quick cup of coffee. Two world leaders who happened to be in the same city at the same time with half an hour to spare. A chance for a quick catchup and to shoot the breeze. So let’s split the difference. Call it a bi-flat white. Between two old Mochas.
Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to amount to much. Just a chance for Biden to fill in time before his lunchtime speech. The US president seemed more interested in the view from the hotel window than in the UK prime minister. There’s a grudging respect between the two men, but not a natural connection. Sunak just looked vaguely uncomfortable as he sipped a cup of coffee. There was no way he could spin this as a triumph of statecraft. It wasn’t even as if he and Biden had a great deal to talk about with Stormont still out of action. So they just had to ad lib awkwardly.
