Joe Biden has said he intends to visit Northern Ireland after Rishi Snack formally invited him to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
“I’m going to Northern Ireland and the Republic,” Biden said after meeting with Snack in San Diego.
Sunak told the president:
“I know it is very special and personal to you.
Biden said, “25 years? It seems like yesterday.”
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Plans for the US president’s visit to Japan had been in the works for months, but his participation was in doubt as negotiations between the UK and the EU on a post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade deal were locked in.
When the two met at Point Loma Naval Base following the announcement of the Aukus submarine agreement, the US president joked that he had also been invited to Sunak’s home in Santa Monica.
“First of all, welcome back to California. He’s from Stanford and still has a home here in California,” he said.
“That’s why I’m so nice to you. Would you mind inviting me to your house in California? Jokes aside, I think today is a historic day for our country.”
Ahead of the meeting, Mr Sunak dampened hopes that he could get the president to resume negotiations on a post-Brexit free trade deal with the United States.
The prime minister praised deals with individual states before meeting the US president in San Diego on Monday, arguing that transatlantic trade is “just growing significantly”.
A free trade deal with the world’s biggest economy was touted as one of the prizes of Brexit, but negotiations have stalled.
