British Prime Minister Boris Johnson can't stop losing.
His "plan" to keep a deal-free Brexit on the cards (which Johnson believes is necessary despite the catastrophic economic damage) was defeated twice in parliament on Wednesday. Shortly afterwards, Johnson was defeated by parliament in his attempt to hold a general election.
Anger in the Conservative Party also grew when Johnson decided to ban 21 Conservative MPs from the party, all of whom opposed Britain leaving the European Union without an agreement.
But according to President Donald Trump, Johnson is indeed doing an excellent job. "Boris is a friend of mine and he does it, there is no question," Trump told reporters on Wednesday afternoon. "He knows how to win, Boris knows how to win. Don't worry about him, he'll be fine. "
Then, on Thursday, Johnson – who once said that Trump had "astounding ignorance that, frankly, made him unable to take over the role of President of the United States" suffered another defeat. And this was much more personal: Jo Johnson, Boris' younger brother and a conservative MP, stepped down from parliament.
"In the past few weeks, I've been torn between family loyalty and national interest," tweeted Jo Johnson. "It is an unsolvable tension and time for others to take on my role as MP and Minister."
The fact that Johnson's own brother resigned from his government less than a month and a half after taking office as prime minister underscores the persistent conservative civil war at the heart of the Brexit debate, which has completely fragmented the party.
This is also underlined by the prominence of some MPs that Johnson identified earlier this week, including ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer (the second most important position in British politics) Phillip Hammond and Nicholas Soames, Winston Churchill's grandson, about whom Johnson ironically previously had a biography wrote.
For his part, Trump previously promised that "we will make a very large trade deal – bigger than ever with the UK". But whether that would actually happen is, like everything that has to do with Brexit, a lot of an open question. Such a trade agreement would inevitably annoy US trading partners within the European Union (both individual countries and the bloc as a whole).
In addition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned that Congress will block any legislation if this undermines the Good Friday peace agreement on Northern Ireland. The central debate is over the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
European officials are desperately trying to maintain the "backstop" (i.e. a seamless border between Northern Ireland and the Republic), which was one of the main provisions of the Good Friday Agreement. However, Johnson has repeatedly campaigned for a hard border between the two countries.
"Whatever it may be, Brexit must not jeopardize the Good Friday Agreement, including the seamless border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, especially since the first generation born 21 years ago in the hope of Good Friday. Pelosi said earlier in August. "We can't go back."
