Donald Trump has relayed his congratulations after Boris Johnson was selected as the next prime minister of the UK. The US president has described Johnson as a friend, but the pair’s relationship hasn’t always been rosy.

Johnson “will be great” as the next UK leader, Trump tweeted on Tuesday, shortly after Johnson was appointed the new head of the Conservative Party and thus, the next prime minister.

Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2019

Trump reportedly told Johnson that he would “do a great job” as prime minister in a phone call last week, predicting that they would have a “great relationship.”

Trump and Johnson do have a colorful relationship. The US president considers Johnson a “friend” and a “very talented guy,” but the newly-anointed prime minister stirred up media speculation after turning down a face-to-face meeting with Trump during his state visit to the UK in June. Instead, they reportedly exchanged pleasantries in a 20-minute phone call, which an aide for Johnson described as “friendly and productive.”

Also on rt.com Awkward: Trump’s ‘friend’ Boris Johnson turned down personal meeting during UK trip

Johnson’s feelings about Trump have been less consistent. Last August, he praised the president, suggesting that the UK would be better off if Trump took over the Brexit talks. “There is method in his madness,” he said at the time.

But Johnson was far less flattering during his tenure as mayor of London. In 2015, he slammed Trump’s “stupefying ignorance” after the president claimed there were dangerous “no-go areas” in the British capital. Those comments made him “frankly unfit to hold the office of president of the United States,” Johnson said at the time.

Also on rt.com Trump says his ‘talented’ friend Boris Johnson would be a ‘great’ PM, ahead of meeting with UK’s May

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