Boris Johnson heads to New York for talks with the Trump team
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has jetted to the US to meet senior members Donald Trump's incoming administration, but he won't get to meet the president-elect himself.
Johnson arrived in the US earlier today, and will meet with two of Trump's advisers in the president-elect's head of strategy Steve Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is a member of the transition team.
However, Johnson will not meet with Trump directly, meaning that former Ukip leader Nigel Farage remains the only British politician to have met the president-elect since his shock victory.
Johnson will also avoid a meeting with incoming secretary of state – former Exxon chief executive Rex Tillerson – as it is protocol to wait until after his confirmation.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “Following the successful meeting last month between the Prime Minister's Chiefs of Staff and President-elect Donald Trump's team, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is undertaking a short visit to the US for meetings with close advisers to the President-elect and senior Congressional leaders.
“The discussions will be focused on UK-US relations and other foreign policy matters.”
After meeting Kuchner and Bannon in New York, Johnson will travel to Washington to meet Congressional leaders including Speaker Paul Ryan, Senator Bob Corker and Senator Mitch McConnell.
The meetings will not be Johnson's first encounter with US politicians since he became foreign secretary – the former mayor of London suffered a bruising press conference alongside outgoing secretary of state John Kerry last summer.