‘I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake’: Joe Biden gives Liz Truss the cold shoulder as he sticks the boot into her economic plan and claims U-turns were ‘predictable’ on visit to ice cream parlour

• Joe Biden has appeared to join in criticism against Prime Minister Liz Truss 
• Eating ice cream, Biden said he thought her economic policy was ‘a mistake’
• He also said the subsequent outcome of the mini-budget was ‘predictable’
• The pair have famously had their differences since joining public office
• Ms Truss is fighting for her career after a series of missteps in the top job 

Joe Biden has appeared to join in the chorus of criticism against Prime Minister Liz Truss and the disastrous start to her leadership during a visit to an ice cream parlour.

The President of the United States said on Saturday he, like so many others, was shocked by the mini-budget and her overall economic vision.

‘I wasn’t the only one who thought it was a mistake,’ he told reporters, adding the subsequent outcome was ‘predictable’.

On Friday, Ms Truss sacked her chosen Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and U-turned on a second budgetary pledge to keep corporation tax low.

Former health and foreign secretery Jeremy Hunt was named as replacement in a move which some see as Truss ‘waving a white flag’. 

Joe Biden has appeared to join in the chorus of criticism against Prime Minister Liz Truss and the disastrous start to her leadership during a visit to an ice cream parlour (pictured) 

The pair have famously had their differences over the course of their time in public office

Biden stopped for a treat at an ice cream shop in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday

When asked about Ms Truss’s original economic strategy, President Biden said he disagreed with the plan.

But he acknowledged it was not his place to comment, instead saying it was up to the British people to come to their own conclusions. 

Mr Biden also dismissed concerns about the strength of the dollar. He said: ‘The problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries.’

The pair have famously had their differences over the course of their time in public office.

Last year, the PM told a fringe event at the Tory conference the relationship between the UK and US was ‘special but not exclusive’, adding Britain should not be ‘worried like some teenage girl at a party if we’re not considered to be good enough’.

The term ‘special relationship’ was first used by Churchill in a 1946 lecture tour of American universities. It was most widely used to describe the close relationship between Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

When asked about Ms Truss’s original economic strategy, President Biden said he disagreed with the plan

But he acknowledged it was not his place to comment, instead saying it was up to the British people to come to their own conclusions

Relations between the countries have also been strained in recent years, particularly surrounding post-Brexit trading in Northern Ireland.

Talks between the pair were expected to take place when Mr Biden visited the UK for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, but they were delayed. 

Ms Truss instead held talks with Mr Biden at the UN General Assembly in New York in a bid to find common ground and reset the relationship.

When the two leaders met, Mr Biden assured Ms Truss:  ‘You’re our closest ally in the world and there’s a lot we can do, continue to do, together.’ 

The two spoke on the life and funeral of the late Monarch, the war in the Ukraine and the energy woes in Britain.

But the White House also made no secret of Biden’s discontent over the issues with  Northern Ireland. 

The President of the United States said on Saturday he, like so many others, was shocked by the mini-budget and Ms Truss’s overall economic vision

Mr Biden, who is proud of his Irish heritage, strongly opposed Brexit and expressed huge concern over the future of Northern Ireland, its trade and the deal signed in 1998 that set the peace protocols in stone and ended 30 years of sectarian violence.

Ahead of the trip, Ms Truss also won no favours when she kicked off the visit with an announcement that a U.K-U.S. free trade deal will not happen for years.

She said such an agreement simply wasn’t a priority.

‘There (aren’t) currently any negotiations taking place with the US, and I don´t have an expectation that those are going to start in the short to medium term,’ she told reporters at the time.

Just a month on, Ms Truss’s leadership is now on shaky ground after being plagued by backflips and criticism over her decisions.

New Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, brought in to replace the sacked Kwasi Kwarteng and to restore credibility to Downing Street, spent Saturday effectively trashing her mini-budget and the set of policies that brought Ms Truss to power.

Ms Truss held talks with Mr Biden at the UN General Assembly in New York in a bid to find common ground and reset the relationship

Amid warnings of ‘difficult decisions’ to come over the next two weeks, Mr Hunt and Ms Truss will meet in her Chequers residence on Sunday as tax rises and spending cuts loom.

But Mr Hunt has also maintained that he and Ms Truss are a ‘team’, emphasising that his priority was ‘growth underpinned by stability’.

‘The drive on growing the economy is right – it means more people can get good jobs, new businesses can thrive and we can secure world class public services. But we went too far, too fast,’ he said.

Earlier, he told broadcasters: ‘Spending will not rise by as much as people would like and all Government departments are going to have to find more efficiencies than they were planning to.’

‘And some taxes will not be cut as quickly as people want. Some taxes will go up. So it’s going to be difficult.’

As Mr Hunt begins his job of putting together a fresh budget for October 31 one possible plan, would be to delay his predecessor’s aim of reducing the basic rate of income tax by a year as part of a wider package designed to calm the financial markets.

Earlier, Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey said he spoke to Mr Hunt on Friday after his appointment as he warned that interest rates may have to be raised higher than initially expected to tackle inflation.

Talks between the pair were expected to take place when Mr Biden visited the UK for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral (pictured arriving at the state funeral), but they were delayed

Speaking from Washington, he said the pair had a ‘meeting of minds’ on the issue of ‘fiscal sustainability’ as he noted the fact the Office of Budget Responsibility is now ‘very much back in the picture’.

Questions still hang over the Government about whether it would be able to win enough support from a divided party for a series of painful decisions on tax and spending that have already prompted memories of the austerity era under David Cameron and George Osborne.

In a media blitz over the weekend, both Mr Hunt and Ms Truss tried to win over their own party and voters to the new Downing Street regime.

So far, his appointment has failed to dampen speculation of an imminent coup against Ms Truss.

Rishi Sunak, the defeated leadership contender and former chancellor, as well as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, have been among the names flagged as potential replacements.

The Prime Minister nonetheless still has her defenders within the party.

Former culture minister Nadine Dorries, a loyal follower of Boris Johnson, wrote in the Daily Express: ‘The sad truth is that those scheming to eject the Prime Minister from Downing Street are the same plotters who conspired to get rid of Boris. They will not rest until they have anointed their own chosen leader in power.’

The Labour Party, looking on as it enjoys a mammoth lead in the polls, said that there were ‘no historical precedents’ for the crisis the Truss administration had plunged the country into.

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