Boris Johnson snubs EU crisis meeting on election of Trump

An emergency EU foreign ministers' meeting called to discuss Donald Trump's US election victory has been snubbed by Boris Johnson.

Boris Johnson: EU whinge jibe. Picture: AP

The move highlights the widening gulf between London and the continent over how to respond to the president-elect after a senior German politician warned Theresa May was “delusional” if she believed the incoming Republican administration would give the UK a good trade deal.

Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson, who branded vocal European concern about the US election result as a “whinge-o-rama”, was dismissive of the need for a special EU meeting.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The Foreign Secretary will not attend the meeting convened for Sunday. There is a regular Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday where a range of issues can be discussed in the normal way.”

The move came as Axel Schafer, a top member of German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Social Democrat party, said of the prospects of a preferential UK-US trade deal: “Even before Tuesday the chances were rather low, now the hope for this kind of deal seems delusional.”