President Trump’s support for Britain’s exit from the European Union may be about to collide with his election-year hopes of presiding over a strong economy.
The president has long seen “Brexit” as reflecting the same sort of nationalist impulse that drove his White House upset in 2016. He has hailed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who vows to sever ties with Europe on Oct. 31 no matter what, as a kindred populist spirit.
But as British Parliament this week dealt Johnson a stunning four consecutive defeats, the prospect of further delay in leaving the E.U. or a chaotic no-deal divorce spiked.
Continuing instability in the world’s fifth-largest economy — coupled with anti-government protests in Hong Kong, a U.S.-China trade war, and financial problems in major developing countries such as Argentina and Turkey — threatens to become a drag on an already troubled global economy.
View the complete September 5 article by David Lynch on The Washington Post website here.