President Biden and first lady Jill shocked fellow guests at their castle-themed hotel in England when they emerged in sneakers and jeans to have a drink on the hotel patio after meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The first couple walked onto the patio of Treganna Castle, which was built in 1774 on the Cornish coast, and jostled wooden furniture before taking a seat.
BBC reporter Jon Sopel tweeted a video of a brief exchange he had with Biden when the president unexpectedly appeared.
“A first in my career. @POTUS comes and sits down at table in a bar next to me and orders a drink. Am trying to act nonchalant,” Sopel tweeted.
In the video, Biden said “we’re enjoying our walk.”
When Sopel suggested to Biden the overcast day could use some sun, Biden replied, “Well I’ll tell you, this is so beautiful, it doesn’t even need any sun.”
The BBC reporter wrote that Biden ordered a Coke and his wife enjoyed a glass of red wine. In a rare commonality with his predecessor Donald Trump, Biden doesn’t drink alcohol.
Biden did not take questions from American reporters after a meeting earlier in the day with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, where the pair set aside a spat over Brexit and focused on flattery and the unfurling of a revised Atlantic Charter committing the nations to fighting global warming, cybercriminals and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks with President Joe Biden during their meeting, ahead of the G7 summit, at Carbis Bay Hotel on June 10, 2021.
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At the meeting, Biden presented Johnson with a bicycle. And Johnson gave him a framed photograph of a UK mural depicting the abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
Biden repeatedly congratulated Johnson on his recent marriage to his third wife, 33-year-old Carrie Johnson, whom he wrist-bumped after passing over the prime minister for an initial handshake. The bride and Jill Biden dipped their feet in the Atlantic Ocean joined by the prime minister’s less than two-month-old son.
