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Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to the White House after Trump slammed the phone down on him in a moment of 'apoplectic' fury

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to meet Donald Trump next month after a furious row between the two men.

Boris Johnson Trump
  • Johnson had been due to visit Washington shortly after his election victory in December.
  • However, the visit has been repeatedly delayed amid a series of disagreements between the two leaders.
  • Trump slammed the phone down on Johnson last month after the prime minister defied him on the issue of Huawei's involvement in the UK.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned trip to the United States next month after a furious phone call from Donald Trump in which the president slammed down the phone on the prime minister.

Johnson had been due to visit Washington last month but repeatedly delayed the trip after a series of rows with the president over Iran, Huawei and a rejected bid by the prime minister to extradite the wife of a US diplomat.

The disagreements culminated in a furious phone call from the president last month after which he hung up on Johnson , according to officials with knowledge of the conversation.

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Johnson has now cancelled his trip altogether according to the Sun Newspaper with Johnson now not planning to visit the country until the G7 summit in June.

Downing Street insisted on Thursday that Johnson would concentrate instead on his domestic agenda over the coming months.

"When the Eye of Sauron is off the Whitehall machine, things stop working," one source told the paper.

"That is why he has stripped down all his foreign travel this year to get his agenda done."

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However, relations broke down in recent weeks following a series of high-profile threats from Trump and a series of pointed interventions against Trump by Johnson and senior members of his government.

President Donald Trump slammed the phone down on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson last month after what officials described as an "apoplectic" call.

The call, which one source described to the Financial Times as "very difficult," came after Johnson defied Trump and allowed Chinese telecoms company Huawei the rights to develop the UK's 5G network.

Trump's fury was triggered by Johnson backing Huawei despite multiple threats by Trump and his allies that the United States would withdraw security co-operation with the UK if the deal went ahead.

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Trump's threats reportedly "irritated" the UK government , with Johnson frustrated at the president's failure to suggest any alternatives to the deal.

Following the call, US Vice President Mike Pence said that the Trump administration had made its disappointment at the UK "very clear to them".

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