Britain looks to the U.S. for a Trade Deal, amid U.S. Elections

“The fascination with Donald Trump and his wildly unconventional presidency is a constant,” says Harriet Alexander, the New York based British correspondent for the BBC and other outlets about the stories that interest her readers most from the United States. She shares her thoughts with Foreign Press USA.

How closely is the United Kingdom watching the presidential race in the United States?

It’s going to be very important for Britain. Having left the European Union, we need a trade deal with the U.S. Boris Johnson [ U.K. Prime Minister] is likened to Trump by his critics — something that’s not wholly fair, but certainly amusing. Johnson has gone out of his way to be inoffensive to the U.S. president. It’ll be really interesting to see if this harms the British government’s relations with Joe Biden, if he wins. I suspect not.

Many in Britain will breathe a sigh of relief if Biden wins, as it’s a return to a more predictable presidency. Britain takes this idea of ‘the special relationship’ very seriously indeed — far more seriously, I think, than the U.S. does. But there’s no escaping the fact that the world expects the U.S. to lead in so many areas. If Biden wins, I think it’ll be a huge comfort to the rest of the world, buffeted by Trump’s schizophrenic policies.

What election-coverage lessons have journalists learned for the 2020 race?

I think vital lessons were learned from 2016 in terms of reporting. Few took Trump’s campaign seriously enough. So many journalists live in coastal cities where Clinton was deemed a shoo-in for the presidency. I really enjoy getting out to rural, remote areas of the United States to gauge the political sentiment there. I loved reporting from Mobile, Alabama, when James Comey [former FBI Director] was fired to see what they made of it there. The general feeling was the firing was just background noise. I went to some Rust-Belt states to ask Trump supporters how they felt his first 100 days had gone. They didn’t like him much, but hated Clinton more. I also traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border to discuss immigration ahead of the midterms.