White House Official-Biden 'Not Anti-British'

In a rare occurrence between two nations seen as close allies, Special Assistant to the President and NSC Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat following questions from reporters in Belfast has had to state that US President Joe Biden is "not anti-British." Sloat said that, "The track record of the president shows that he’s not anti-British."

• Former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster of the hard-line unionist DUP, stated that Biden "hates the UK". Sloat calls this "simply untrue", saying that he is "a very proud Irish-American" but also a strong supporter of US-UK partnership.
• Much has been made of Biden's planned trip to the Republic of Ireland to explore his family roots, which he has often talked about to the press and in speeches. For some unionists in Northern Ireland this, combined with his closely-held Catholicism, has made him an unreliable broker when talking about the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and the efforts to restore the power-sharing executive at Stormont.
• The seeming snub to UK PM Rishi Sunak of visiting Northern Ireland for such a short time, and only holding a brief coffee meeting with the PM rather than full bilateral talks has seen speculation about Biden's stance on the UK in some sections of the British press.