Why is President Trump Coming to UK?

There is an assumption, first created by PM Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II that a “special relationship” exists between UK and USA. At grass roots level, this is right. Citizens of both countries share much in culture, attitudes, democratic values and sometimes even language! However, at the highest levels, sometimes the relationship is hardly civil, let alone special.

At the end of the War, the UK was bankrupt. America, under Truman and Treasury Secretary Morgenthau, negotiated a loan that kept us afloat but its terms were harsh. UK only repaid the loan in full just a few years ago. The US struck a very hard bargain.

Years on, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan thought John Kennedy was naïve and would do Macmillan’s bidding on the world stage. That went well! Macmillan got the equivalent of a diplomatic black eye. During the Vietnam War, President Johnson wanted the British to join. He pleased with PM Harold Wilson to send a brigade or even a lesser number of troops so America could allege it led a substantial coalition. Wilson would have no part of it. Oddly, thirty plus years on, Prime Minister Tony Blair and his cabinet were suckered into the Iran War and the War on Terror. His premiership was wrecked as a result.

When I hear a Prime Minister tell our media, “The President and I are standing shoulder to shoulder on this issue,” either the President is a midget or the PM is standing on a tall crate. Either way, the relationship between our countries at high levels is fragile at best. It is being tested to the extremes by President Trump because of his imposition of trade tariffs and attacks on world institutions. I know of no support for Trump in UK, save perhaps from certain members and ex-members of United Kingdom Independence Party, like Nigel Farrage, who want UK out of Europe. Put bluntly, Mr Trump is unpopular and now wanted here by the general populace.

So I have questions about the American President’s visit this month. Is Mr Trump superstitious? If so, why has he chosen Friday the 13^th July to land on our shores? Will the sky fall down or the heavens collapse? Will the security, costing me £5 million – okay, other taxpayers are contributing – be enough? What kind of reception can he expect from the Brits? How will Fox News cope if they are obliged to show locals at their most fervent, giving POTUS the finger? I can hear Sean Hannity: “the extension of a British middle finger or the use of two fingers in a V sign is the height of approval in the UK.” Such a sign can be the height of rudeness here unless the palm of the hand faces outward.

What is the President’s interest in the visit? It is not a one-off. Before he lands here, he is going to Brussels for a NATO summit. Was his trip here an afterthought or did he want something for home consumption. He has been disrespecting NATO members and the very ethos of the institution so he can hardly expect adulation from the Belgians.

Post-war Presidents visiting these shores, especially Kennedy, Clinton and Obama, have received the warmest of welcomes. Her Majesty the Queen has met every American President from Truman to Obama, bar one. Johnson never visited. There are sound reasons why we British should regard Mr Trump as hostile. We are at war with the US. True, it’s a trade tariff war at the moment but it was started by America. Since we are looking for an American trade deal, in the current climate one would think there is no chance.

I suppose Trump is happy with the photo opportunities offered from meeting The Queen, either at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. I feel for our head of state, having to make nice with a man who openly disrespects women and insults women of power, but who happens to be America’s head of state. Mr Trump may lengthen his visit and go to Turnberry for a round of golf on a course owned by one of his corporations. If so, will he be able to resist promoting his development? By doing so, he would commit an impeachable offence. Does he care?

Why are the Brits welcoming him to our shores? What do we expect to benefit from the Trump trip? The Obama administration warned we’d be put at the back of the queue if we wanted a new trade deal after leaving the EU. Mr Trump might view things differently but not if the tariff wars continue. It will be a hard road for Mrs May to travel. But if Trump is not coming for a trade deal, why is he bothering? Is a photo op enough to warrant all the fuss? Given his taste for razzamatazz and shadow over substance, photos of him and Her Majesty may well be sufficient motivation.

A good friend who has lived in the States for more than forty years told me: “My attitude to Trump has been to ignore what he says and watch what he does.  Some things have fared well, particularly the economy and deregulation.  Other things have not fared at all well.  However, the battle is lost and I join the ranks who would like to see him vacate the office (but not by impeachment, an ugly and damaging process).  What has tipped me is his isolationism and attitudes towards trade and international organizations which are borne of ignorance and bigotry and now those forces extend to those lawfully here but without guaranty.”

With the disastrous mishandling of the Brexit negotiations, UK is now a hostage to fortune. We need trade deals with the likes of America, China and India. Early deals with our soon-to-be former European partners will be difficult to reach. So, as much as we may not like it, we need to suck it up and deal with Mr Trump and his administration by ignoring the unpleasant and distasteful rhetoric and trying to do business.