If nothing else, they have each other.

On one of the most difficult days in both of their tenures, President Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, stars of an emerging trans-Atlantic buddy story, met in New York to talk global affairs only to have to fend off troubles back home.

For Mr. Johnson, it was a devastating unanimous ruling by Britain’s Supreme Court that he violated the law by suspending Parliament amid the roiling debate over how to leave the European Union. Sitting with Mr. Trump at the United Nations on Tuesday, Mr. Johnson was asked by a reporter whether he would resign.

“Let’s be absolutely clear — we respect the judiciary in our country, we respect the court,” Mr. Johnson said. “I disagree profoundly with what they had to say,” he added, but he said he would proceed with plans for withdrawing from the European Union by the end of October. “Frankly, I think we need to get on with Brexit,” he said.

Mr. Trump expressed sympathy. “That was a very nasty question,” he said, noting that it came from an American reporter.

Mr. Johnson was understanding. “I think he was asking a question, to be fair, that a lot of British reporters would have asked.”

Mr. Trump minimized the significance of the court ruling for Mr. Johnson. “For him it’s another day in the office,” the president said.

“Tomorrow’s another day in Parliament,” Mr. Johnson interjected with a laugh.

Mr. Trump assured him he would have better luck in the courts in the future. “We were 0 for 7 with the Supreme Court,” he recalled. “Since then, we’ve almost run the table. We’ve won a lot of decisions. I’m sure that’s going to happen to you.”

Mr. Johnson will also be returning to Parliament with a new scandal hanging over him. The Sunday Times of London reported this week that, when Mr. Johnson was mayor of London, his office had directed tens of thousands of pounds in government money to a young entrepreneur who was a close friend.

As for Mr. Trump, he sought to deflect the growing furor over his effort to pressure Ukraine to investigate his leading Democratic rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., at the same time he held up $391 million in American aid to the former Soviet republic.

Mr. Trump said he had held up the aid not as leverage but because he hates giving money away and thinks European nations should step up to do so more. “I keep asking the same question: Why is the United States that’s always paying these foreign countries?” he said.

Mr. Trump has acknowledged raising questions about Mr. Biden and accusations of corruption with Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a July 25 telephone call. But “there was never any quid pro quo,” he said on Tuesday. “With us there was no pressure applied.”

Earlier in the day, he dismissed the Democratic calls for impeachment as a new “witch hunt” that was part of an election strategy.

“I’m leading in the polls and they have no idea how to stop me,” he told reporters, although in most polls he trails the leading Democratic candidates. “The only way they can try is through impeachment.”

The camaraderie between the president and the prime minister was on display throughout their remarks together. The two talked again about striking a trade deal after Britain leaves the European Union. Mr. Trump said that Mr. Johnson, who has lost repeated votes in Parliament and suffered a revolt in his own Conservative Party, is doing “a fantastic job” and would manage to find a resolution to the Brexit debate.

“He’s a friend of mine,” Mr. Trump said. “It takes a man like this to get it done and they have to get it done.”

Michael Crowley and Megan Specia contributed reporting.

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