I THINK we are all a little tired of American presidents telling us how to run our country.
President Obama showed disdain for the so-called special relationship when he intervened in the Brexit debate.
And now President Biden, who’s visiting the Province to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), believes he has all the answers to the current impasse in Northern Ireland (NI).
That was caused, lest we forget, by forcing an amended Northern Irish Protocol on a divided community.
Despite being heralded as a major sea-change, it was nothing of the sort and still leaves part of the UK subject to EU law, something that Mr Biden supported.
His partisan views supporting a united Ireland don’t help, either.
Regrettably, there’s history between the Americans and NI.
Past US support for fundraising for the IRA and US court rulings providing safe haven for IRA murderers have left their mark.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is doing his best to mend fences, but the past is deeply ingrained in the Province and unionists remain understandably suspicious.
Everyone wants a lasting peace and the great achievement of the GFA was in creating a power-sharing arrangement at Stormont, which can only be changed by the consent of all parties.
Any attempt by Biden to persuade one side to capitulate, therefore, flouts the agreement he has ostensibly come to celebrate.
Even Tony Blair, one of the architects of the GFA, has emphasised that the US needs to tread carefully, saying, “there’s a difference between influencing and pressurising”.
I can’t help wondering how Mr Biden would react if Rishi Sunak told the US Congress how to sort out the racial strife, gender wars or gun crime currently dividing America.