Mr Trump has said that he had a “big and tough talk” with the UK Prime Minister over allowing Huawei access to Britains 5G network. The UK government announced last month that Huawei would be stripped from all British networks by 2027, after pressure from the US president and Tory MPs. Mr Trump has levied sanctions against the Chinese telecoms giant, preventing Huawei from manufacturing and shipping products from the US.
In an interview at the White House, Mr Trump bragged about forcing the UK to reverse its decision on Huawei.
He threatened that if Mr Johnson went ahead with allowing Huawei access, he would stop doing business and sharing intelligence with the UK.
Mr Trump said: “The UK, they were set to buy the Huawei system. I had a big talk and a tough talk with Boris and I said if you do that system you can forget about Scotland Yard, frankly, because we can’t do business with you.
“And they were all set to do it and they terminated it.”
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Mr Trump also claimed that Italy stopped Huawei from setting up in their country, and spoke about Australia’s refusal to allow the Chinese telecoms firm in.
He said: “Australia has been great from the beginning, I’ll tell you what, they’ve been a great ally.”
Mr Trump then hinted that the countries that snubbed Huawei could be part of a new anti-China summit, and added: “These countries are almost as angry as I am at the plague being released into their country.
“China stopped the plague from going into China but they didn’t stop the plague from going into Europe and all over the world.
“Those countries have suffered more than we have in many ways, they’ve been decimated.”
Last month saw the UK U-turn on Mr Johnson’s original decision on Huawei, following the US’ fresh sanctions on the firm and GCHQ warning of national security risks.
Oliver Dowden, culture secretary, announced Huawei will be banned from the UK by 2027 in a Commons address.
He said: “This has not been an easy decision, but it is the right one for the UK telecoms networks, for our national security and our economy, both now and indeed in the long run.”
Mr Dowden added later in the month that a Joe Biden presidency would not change the “bipartisan” supported ban on Huawei.
Mr Johnson has split with Mr Trump on China on few occasions, usually supporting the US’ measures against the country.
But Mr Johnson’s “go-ahead” to Chinese social media app TikTok setting up a London headquarters puts him at odds again with the US president.
The headquarters approval follows Mr Trump announcing last week that he would be banning the app in the US unless it was bought by an American company.
