Donald Trump welcomes Boris Johnson's victory as the 'Britain Trump'

Reuters

• Donald Trump congratulates "Britain Trump" Boris Johnson on becoming prime minister.
• The US president heaped praise on Theresa May's successor on Tuesday.
• "We have a really good man who is going to be prime minister of the UK now, Boris Johnson. Good man. He's tough, he's smart," Trump said.
• Johnson defeated Jeremy Hunt in the contest to become Conservative party leader and prime minister.

Donald Trump has heaped more praise on Boris Johnson, describing the next prime minister of the United Kingdom as "Britain Trump" who is "going to do a good job" when he takes over from Theresa May.

The US president said on Tuesday: "We have a really good man who is going to be prime minister of the UK now, Boris Johnson. Good man. He's tough, he's smart.

He added: "They're saying 'Britain Trump.' They call him Britain Trump and people say that's a good thing.

"They like me over there. That's what they wanted. That's what they need.

"He'll get it done. Boris is good, he's going to do a good job."

Johnson, the former foreign secretary, was today announced as the winner of the Conservative leadership contest.

He comfortably defeated rival Jeremy Hunt in a vote among Conservative party members, and will officially take over from May as party leader and prime minister on Wednesday.

Trump congratulated Johnson earlier in the day, tweeting:"Congratulations to Boris Johnson on becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He will be great!"

Watch Trump lavish praise on Johnson

Trump has repeatedly expressed his admiration for Johnson, with the Conservative Member of Parliament also devoting a lot of his energies to building a strong relationship with the White House.

For his own part, Johnson has insisted that Trump "speaks a lot of sense" and has "many, many good qualities."

However, Johnson has been accused by some colleagues in his party of refusing to stand up to the president following his involvement in the departure of the UK's ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch.

Ex-Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan, who resigned rather than serve in a Johnson government, accused him of having thrown Darroch "under a bus," while the opposition Labour party accused him of becoming "Trump's patsy."

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