US President Joe Biden has yet to name his picks to become ambassadors to several key countries, including the UK. The UK’s Foreign Office recently dismissed speculations that Biden suggested nominating his former boss, former President Barack Obama, to become the US ambassador to the UK.
The UK’s Foreign Office this week denied the claims that Biden was looking to appoint the former president as the US ambassador to the UK. The claims stemmed from the Sunday Express, citing sources in Whitehall and Washington that Obama was ‘informally suggested’ for the position. Speculation as to who would become the US ambassador to the UK has grown with the delay in appointing an ambassador since the Biden administration took over in January.
The report also cited claims that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejected the idea of having Obama as the US ambassador, noting Obama’s intervention during the Brexit referendum. Obama and Johnson have been at odds since the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union in 2016. Obama warned the UK that the country would be prioritized last for a trade deal with the US should it leave the EU.
Johnson had also reportedly drawn the ire of Obama by penning a column suggesting that Obama’s remarks attributed to his Kenyan heritage and the British colonial rule.
The Foreign Office said the claims made in the piece were “categorically untrue.”
“These reports are untrue. Questions on US appointments are for the US,” said the spokeswoman for the Foreign Office.
In other news, the Biden administration stood by a Trump era-rejection of China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire body of water, angering the surrounding nations that also have overlapping claims. International arbitration has also ruled against China over the claims.
The Biden administration also warned China that any attack made on the Philippines in the region would result in a US response as stipulated by the mutual defense treaty. The warning comes from a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commemorating the fifth anniversary of the tribunal’s ruling in favor of the Philippines over the Spratly islands and nearby reefs and shoals.