Here to calm the waters, U.S. Speaker Johnson tells U.K. Parliament Today World News

The Speaker of U.S House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, told British lawmakers in London that he was here to “calm the waters”, following recent events between the U.S. and its European allies including the U.K.

Britain and seven other European countries have been unnerved and searching for a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s Saturday (January 17, 2026) announcement of tariffs on them, the latest move by the President to pressure Europeans into transferring the semiautonomous Danish territory of Greenland to the U.S.

Hours before Mr. Johnon’s speech, Mr. Trump had criticised, on social media, the U.K.- Mauritius agreement on the U.S.-U.K. Indian Ocean airbase in Diego Garcia (part of the Chagos Archipelago), calling it “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY”. Mr. Trump had earlier backed the agreement, which would give sovereignty over the islands back to Mauritius, with the U.K. acquiring a 99-year extendible lease for Diego Garcia.

“We didn’t know how the events would develop over the last few days, but I told the President that I felt that my mission here today was to encourage our friends and help to calm the waters, so to speak, and I hope to do so,” Mr. Johnson told members of the House of Commons and Lords in Westminster on Tuesday. The U.S. Speaker’s interaction was planned in October last year to commemorate the 250th year of America’s independence from Britain.

During his remarks, Mr. Johnson supported U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s address to the nation on Monday, in which the Prime Minister had suggested that the U.S. and U.K. were close allies and working issues out. Mr. Starmer had, however, strongly criticised the use of tariffs on allies and acknowledged differences with Washington on the question of Greenland’s sovereignty.

“I thought that was exactly the right message in the right tone… we’ve always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends,” Mr. Johnson said. “I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case,” he added.

Mr. Johnson repeated Mr. Trump’s claims that Russia and China were threats in the Arctic.

“Clearly, President Trump is taking seriously the modern and dynamic threats that China and Russia pose to our global security, especially in focus the last few days as it relates to the Arctic,” he said. While allies could debate how best to counter these threats, the threats were ignored at their own peril, Mr Johnson said.

European countries and the U.S. are at odds over the magnitude and imminence of the threat posed by China and Russia in the Arctic, especially concerning Greenland.

With multiple references to conservative leaders, such as former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill, Mr. Johnson dwelt on current American right-wing themes of Western civilisation being at risk and the need for civilisational pride – and strong borders – in the West. Mr. Johnson, a Republican, also delivered a veiled criticism of liberal and leftist thought.

“Our brightest minds are too often taught to view our history only through the lens of its sins,” he said, adding, “We have faced this in America, just as you have here, a truly menacing scepticism towards history and our national institutions.”

Mr. Johnson met with Mr. Starmer and House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle as part of his visit, which officially began on Monday (January 19).