Obama lauds new UK leader; offers ‘support’ in Brexit

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) – President Barack Obama congratulated Britain’s new Prime Minister as she assumed her first full day in office Thursday, offering “full support” for Theresa May’s efforts to guide the U.K. through its exit from the EU.

During a telephone call, Obama stressed that the special relationship between the U.S. and U.K. “remains strong and will endure and that he looks forward to building a close working relationship with Prime Minister May,” the White House said in a statement.

One of May’s more controversial appointments, Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, was a leading figure in the Brexit campaign.

The U.K.’s newly anointed top diplomat has a long history of terse rhetoric geared toward foreign leaders, including Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The relationship between Washington and London “transcends any single personality”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters earlier in the day when he was asked about Johnson’s potential effect on the U.S.-U.K. ties.

“The decision that we will make is to seek to deepen and strengthen our special relationship with the U.K. regardless of who serves in a position as prominent as foreign minister,” he said.