Joe Biden has described Liz Truss’s newly abandoned tax cuts as a “mistake,” in a rare criticism of the British prime minister.
The US president said it was “predictable” that his UK counterpart had been forced to abandon her economic plans after they caused turmoil in global financial markets.
In a bid to cling on to power, Ms Truss on Friday sacked her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in the wake of his mini-Budget, which outlined aggressive tax cuts without identifying any cost savings.
Jeremy Hunt, who has been appointed the new chancellor, has swiftly ditched many of the government’s economic policies.
“I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake,” Mr Biden said of the tax cuts. “The idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy … I disagreed with the policy, but that’s up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me
His remarks, made to reporters during a stop at an ice cream shop while campaigning in Oregon, were a rare criticism of the domestic policy of one of the closest allies of the US.
The White House has previously refrained from commenting on Ms Truss’s troubled first weeks as PM and the impact of her economic policies on the dollar, which set a new record against the pound this week.
The strength of the dollar benefits US imports but makes the country’s exports more expensive to the rest of the world.
Mr Biden said the US economy was “strong as hell” but “the problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries”.
The president’s direct criticism of Ms Truss will pile more pressure on the PM as she fights to cling on to her job in the wake of plunging popularity among both the public and her own party.
Conservative donors and business leaders have turned against her, while some of her senior MPs are reportedly plotting to oust her.
