RISHI Sunak shook hands with Joe Biden as the PM greeted the US President in Northern Ireland last night.
Biden touched down at Belfast International airport on Tuesday evening for a four-day visit.
And he was greeted by Mr Sunak as he stepped off Air Force One with the leaders smiling as they clasped hands.
At one point, the president was seen with an arm around Sunak as they warmly chatted on a cold night.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and the King’s personal representative for County Antrim, Lord-Lieutenant David McCorkell, were also among the welcoming party.
Biden’s official presidential car Cadillac One – otherwise known as “The Beast” – pulled up to the steps before he was ferried away in the presidential motorcade.
Rishi Sunak left the runway in a separate car.
The president said he was making the trip to “mark the tremendous progress since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago”.
This includes underpinning his support for peace in Northern Ireland.
Cops have taken a number of precautions to ensure the safety of the president during his visit, amid petrol bomb attacks in Derry this week.
Dozens of police and US secret service vehicles sealed off rain-drenched streets around central Belfast for Biden’s visit.
US secret service agents have also been checking sewers and sealing manhole covers along Biden’s heavily armoured cavalcade’s expected route.
Across the border, Gardai have warned that road and site closures at Biden’s various stop-offs will cause significant delays over the course of his visit.
Motorists have been warned to expect some traffic disruption during the president’s visit.
Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Mr Sunak tomorrow.
The president will also engage with the leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties before he delivers an address at Ulster University’s new £350million Belfast campus.
Biden, who often speaks with pride of his Irish roots, will then travel to Dublin, Louth and Mayo.
It is understood he may meet King Charles, 74, on Wednesday.
White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said: “President Biden will first travel to Belfast, Northern Ireland, from April 11 to 12 to mark the tremendous progress since the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 25 years ago and to underscore the readiness of the United States to support Northern Ireland’s vast economic potential to the benefit of all communities.
“The President will then travel to Ireland from April 12 to 14.
“He will discuss our close co-operation on the full range of shared global challenges.
“He will also hold various engagements, including in Dublin, County Louth and County Mayo, where he will deliver an address to celebrate the deep, historic ties that link our countries and people.”
While he’s flying over for the Irish visit, Mr Biden will skip the King’s Coronation of May 6, with Jill, 71, attending in his place.
Mr Biden can trace his ancestry to Ireland’s west and east coasts, specifically Ballina in Co Mayo and the Cooley Peninsula in Co Louth.
His great-great-grandfather Owen Finnegan emigrated to the US from the Cooley peninsula, while another great-great-grandfather, Patrick Blewitt, was born in Ballina, leaving during the Irish famine in 1850 to sail to America.
