Balancing act for Boris: Trump or Biden

With only three weeks to go before a monumental decision by the American people, politicians such as Boris Johnson have to start weighing the odds. If he is seen to be too pro-Trump and Biden wins, Biden ain't going to be too happy. If Boris starts to hedge his bets and talks glowingly about Biden as a possible future president of the United States, then he will seriously annoy Trump and make Biden think, "what a creep". Tough one this. Actually it's not as big a deal as some people are making out. All Boris has to do is say nothing about the upcoming US election on the grounds that it might be seen to be interfering - remember Obama's "Britain will go to the back of the trade queue if Brexit goes ahead". But at the same time the British embassy in Washington has to make sure it knows all the likely Cabinet members for a Biden presidency so that relationships are forged quietly and cunningly. It's bread and butter stuff for the embassy and for the relatively new ambassador Dame Karen Pierce. She's quite a sparky lady and I expect she has already made all the right cocktail party moves. But what she can't do is go around Washington saying she can't wait to deal with a Biden administration so that she can sleep at nights. The Trumpites will soon hear of that and she will be in as much doodoo as her predecessor Kim Darroch was when his communications back to London about the chaotic White House were leaked and he lost his job. The embassy will be reading the polls and sniffing the air as much as anyone else on the diplomatic circuit. Most of the ambassadors will be thinking a Biden administration would be easier to deal with but if they are sensible they will keep their thoughts to themselves. They have three weeks plus another two months to be diplomatic to Trump if he loses and three weeks plus another two months plus another four years if he wins.