UK and US can work through differences, says House Speaker Johnson

By Alistair Smout

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said he was confident that Britain and the United States maintain their so-called ‘special relationship’ and work through differences on Greenland that threaten to upend bilateral ties.

Johnson’s visit to mark the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence from rule by London comes at an awkward time for trans-Atlantic relations, days after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Britain and other European countries with tariffs unless they let the United States buy Greenland.

Trump has also sharply criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer over a deal to cede sovereignty of the island of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, in an apparent reversal of the administration’s previous support of the deal.

“We’ve always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case,” Johnson said in an address to lawmakers in the British parliament.

Johnson said he had met Starmer on Monday, and said the prime minister struck “exactly the right message and the right tone” in a statement that morning, where he urged calm discussion to resolve differences on Greenland to avert a trade war and hailed the partnership between the two countries.

Starmer has previously lauded his close relationship with Trump and struck a deal to avert some sectoral tariffs last May, but recent events threaten to undermine his strategy towards Washington.

Johnson added that he had spoken to Trump yesterday and told him that he aimed to use the trip to “encourage our friends to help calm the waters, so to speak.”

“Let us look to agreement, continue our dialogue and find a resolution, just as we always have in the past,” Johnson said.

“And in that process, I am confident that we can and will maintain and strengthen our special relationship between these two nations.”

(Reporting by Alistair Smout, editing by William James)