“He has strong views about Brexit and he has strong views about the deal. Probably, from the point of view of those of us who want to get Brexit done and make a great success of it, it would be fair to say this is a debate that’s best conducted within the U.K.," Johnson added. "But you know — the president has his style and his approach.”
Pressed repeatedly by POLITICO on whether it is right for a foreign leader to criticize a British prime minister in this way, Johnson eventually said: "I think most people feel … I don’t want anybody else telling us what to do. Or anybody else criticizing our government, I suppose is my feeling. But if you ask me whether I think the Brexit negotiations have been brilliantly handled, I don’t think so.”[...]
Johnson denied his unpopularity with EU leaders would be a problem when negotiating an improved deal. “It’s not true. I had great friends in Brussels, I had great relations with people around the table at the European Council.”
Asked what would be his message to Germany's Angela Merkel, outgoing European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, and other EU leaders, he said: “The United Kingdom is passionately pro-European, but we do not seek continued membership of the EU institutions and we want to leave.
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