Trump’s visit falls at a very delicate moment both for the United States – intent on calibrating an international order more sensitive to their interests – and for England, gripped by Brexit fever and the leadership contest in the Tories house, which it already sees 13 candidates for Theresa May’s succession. Il Punto by Daniele Meloni
The three days of the official visit of US President Donald Trump to the British capital begins today. A visit that falls at a very delicate moment both for the United States – intent on calibrating an international order more sensitive to their interests – and for England, gripped by Brexit fever and the leadership contest in the Tories house, which already sees 13 candidates for the succession of Theresa May.
The resigning premier will welcome the US President, the last act of his bankruptcy premiership. The security service for Trump and the American delegation (a thousand people expected to follow him) will be impressive at Winfield House, home of the US Embassy from 2018. The cost to the UK taxpayer will be £ 18 million. Every effort will also be made to satisfy The Donald’s wishes: for the occasion, Prince Andrew, a golf lover just like the guest-star on the way, was also alerted.
Trump has meticulously prepared his trip as only he can do: no concessions to the language of diplomacy, and a united footing on Brexit, on the role of Nigel Farage and on the leadership contest that will give the country a new conservative leader and, consequently, a new premier before August. However, it would be ungenerous to speak of inappropriate interference: US politics has a long history of interference in British politics, just think of Barack Obama’s endorsement of David Cameron at the time of the Brexit referendum campaign, not to mention when – and we must go back to the fifties – Dwight Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles decided to consolidate the American leadership in the West, definitively relegating England to junior partner in the “special relationship”,
The Donald was perhaps inspired by these two episodes
Maybe. Ever since he was elected President, 5 months after the historic Brexit vote on 23 June 2016, Trump has always expressed his satisfaction with the UK’s exit from the European Union. The United States sees this epochal event as a destabilizing factor for Europe, an ally but also a commercial rival in the world. The US President first criticized the Withdrawal Bill proposed by Theresa May to the British Parliament, stating that in those terms it would have been impossible for the UK to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement with the US. Then, and we are at the latest statements, he supported the position of Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party, even going so far as to suggest Downing Street to give Farage the mandate to deal with Brussels. In the end, after urging the UK not to pay the bill for the divorce from the EU, he expressed his endorsement for his friend Boris Johnson in the race for leadership of the Tories and the premiership. Trump seems to perfectly embody the British idiom “someone who speaks his mind”, one who says what he thinks.
If for the US the interests at stake are clear, the UK’s position is on hold, still influenced by Brexit and internal party struggles. The Labor opposition sees Trump’s visit as smoke and mirrors. Corbyn has taken a more nuanced stance so far, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan has spoken of an unwelcome guest and neo-fascism. An anti-American tradition that returns to the fore after the years of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who had seen the alignment – some say the flattening – of the British center-left on Washington’s interests.
In the Tory house, the pro-American tradition is much more rooted, and refers to a particular text: The History of English Speaking Peoples (yes, with the final “s”) by Winston Churchill, which had emphasized the common values ​​between England and the United States, touching the living flesh of the language, of the democratic-liberal ideals and of the idem feeling between the two peoples. The hypothesis of re-proposing a new Anglosphere after Brexit has been feared several times after June 23, but it does not seem to find the shore that one would expect on the other side of the Atlantic. This would be a problem for London once relations with Europe are relaxed.
Meanwhile, the details of Trump’s agenda have been released. In the meeting with Theresa May we will talk about climate change and 5G technology. Then, the President will visit Westminster Abbey and, today, travel to Clarence House for tea with Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall. In the evening “state banquet” at Buckingham Palace with the Queen, which will also be attended by Melania Trump and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Trump and the Anglo-American business world are scheduled to meet on Tuesday for a working lunch at St. James’s Palace. Speakers include Barclays CEO Jes Staley, GlaxoSmithKline CEO Emma Walmsley, BAE Systems President Sir Roger Carr, and the National Grid CEO John Pettigrew.
In parallel, the protests against Trump will hit the main English cities including London itself, Belfast, Manchester and Birmingham. The “official” demonstration will start on Tuesday from Trafalgar Square, organized by Stop Trump Coalition and Stand Up To Trump, the two associations that promise to “resist Trumpism”.
