Boris Johnson paid tribute to Joe Biden’s well-attested love of the railways by choosing a sleek silver Amtrak train to travel between New York and Washington for his first White House visit as prime minister.
The mode of travel was not only a hat-tip to Mr Biden’s decades of rail commuting as senator and vice-president between his Delaware home and the capital, but also a physical reminder of the main purpose of Johnson’s US trip - to drum up support for carbon emission reductions and polluting car use.
He was rewarded for his gesture with a rambling anecdote from the president as the two of them sat down together in the Oval Office.
In comments which bore the hallmark of having been rehearsed many, many times over the years, the president told Mr Johnson how an Amtrak conductor had approached him to say that he and his colleagues had calculated that over the years, he’d covered more than 2 million miles on the route.
As panicky reporters shuddered at the thought that their precious few minutes with the two leaders were about to be swallowed up in their entirety by the older man’s reminiscences, the PM stepped in to steer the conversation back onto matters of policy, telling the president how much he shared his “belief in transport infrastructure”.
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The three-hour, 225-mile journey from New York to Washington, snaking through the stunning countryside of coastal Maryland with stops in Philadelphia and Baltimore, was a rare break from the conference room and debating chamber for the prime minister in a three-day trip which has been totally dominated by climate change.
Unlike on previous trips, the deadly serious purpose of his visit prevented Mr Johnson from indulging in the usual photo-opportunities which have seen him don hard hats, try his hand at various sports or dance with local beauties in the hope of a bit of positive publicity.
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UK news in pictures 21 September 2021 Gabriella Diment prepares a monumental bronze patinated fibreglass wall sculpture depicting household cavalry soldiers on horseback which is expected to be sold for ￡12,000-18,000 when it goes up for auction at Summers Place Auctions in Billinghurst, Kent
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UK news in pictures 20 September 2021 Florist Judith Blacklock puts the finishing touches to a floral carousel installation in Halkin Arcade, which she has designed with Neill Strain for the Belgravia in Bloom festival, running from September 20-26, in London
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UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium
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UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester,
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UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September
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UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson
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UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London
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UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk
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UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral
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UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his “awesome” year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than ￡150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospital’s charity
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UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York
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UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria
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UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queen’s Guard
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UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London
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UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled “Prairie” by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London
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UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic
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UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole
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UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London.
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UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
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UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season.
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UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire
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UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium
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UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London
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UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London
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UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire
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UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit
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UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London
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UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britain’s cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Women’s C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold
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UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London
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UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London
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UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest
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UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London
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UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach.
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UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire
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UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families
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UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing
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UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week
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UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival
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UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident
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UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening
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UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair
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UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges
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UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London
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UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
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UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan
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UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow
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UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14
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UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London
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UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
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UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Men’s Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan
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Instead, his attendance at the United Nations General Assembly has involved an endless sequence of 30-minute bilateral meetings with countries ranging from Ukraine to Colombia, along with a roundtable discussion with countries threatened by the impact of rising temperatures and topped off by a keynote speech on Wednesday in which he will plead with fellow leaders to come up with the emission-cutting pledges he needs to make his COP26 summit in Glasgow a success.
There was palpable relief in the UK contingent when Biden doubled his $5.6bn climate finance and the Chinese promised not to build any more polluting coal-fired power stations abroad (though notably not halting the construction of a plant a week at home). Normally poker-faced COP26 president Alok Sharma could barely suppress a smirk as the news of the American offer seeped out.
Johnson himself has been in ebullient mood, visibly relieved to be freed of the bounds of Covid restrictions and allowed back into the hurly-burly of in-person political life on which he thrives.
Though both he and the president wore black face-masks for their 90-minute chat in the Oval Office, Johnson’s first major international trip since the Biarritz summit of 2019 was characterised by a level of mingling and face-to-face interaction which feels unusual after the era of the Zoom conference.
The fact that in his public comments, Biden effectively sounded the death-knell for Johnson’s long-cherished dream of a UK/US free trade deal, as well as admonishing the PM once more for allowing Brexit to put stability in Ireland at risk, did not appear to have soured the prime minister’s trip.
He presented the president with a signed copy of astronaut Tim Peake’s plea for the protection of the planet Hello, Is This Planet Earth, while Mr Biden gave him a framed photo of their earlier meeting in Cornwall in June and a White House-branded watch
As he departed the White House for dinner with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, the mood in Johnson’s camp was that he was delighted to be back on the world stage and to have been given reason to hope that his next major appearance - as chair of the Cop gathering - will end in success.