U.S president Donald Trump’s visit in the United Kingdom caught the public eye for a week. From diplomatic faux pas to an awkward body language, the trip was far from flawless.
A few hours before landing, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, was described by Donald Trump as “nasty” in an interview he gave to the British newspaper the Sun. While the Sun proved it taped the interview, the president denied he said such a thing.
While landing in London, Donald Trump criticized the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, for doing a “terrible job” and showed his support to Boris Johnson to replace Prime Minister Theresa May who recently resigned, while Brexit seems to have put a particular uncertainty in the country.
A few diplomatic faux pas
Across media channels, American people all agree: Donald Trump has hindered the reputation of the United States across the ocean.
The biggest take away from Trump’s UK visit is how deeply he has broken the image of America in the world. He is mocked and reviled. He brings no agenda, no purpose. His grifter family parties through the trip. The spiral downward continues. pic.twitter.com/Or92UFTTyz
— Joe Cirincione (@Cirincione) June 7, 2019
According to Wired, the trip had a bad preview – even before Donald Trump even put a foot on the British soil. As a matter of fact, a few days prior the trip, “the US president was insulting a member of the royal family just days before being scheduled to meet with them” as the BBC reported.
There’s an audio recording of it https://t.co/lvpamu8K6R https://t.co/TXACz0Fccy
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) June 2, 2019
While the president denied, the tape was shared across social media, a few hours before his arrival. As the United Kingdom is one of the most diplomacy-savvy countries in the world, there was a high risk that this would several hinder Trump’s stay for the start.
Did the trip benefit to Trump Organization?
As it turned out, the president travelled with all his family, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump and his son, Jared Kushner, who has been in hot water recently for laundering money.
Read on Alvexo: “Did Trump and Kushner Laundered Money via DB?”
Wonder if any one in the #MAGA world can explain the reasonableness of the use of OUR tax dollars to fund the #Trump family visit to the UK? Why are the ALL the kids / spouses needed for a stated funded visit? #TrumpUKVisit
— Rema (Iyer) Wilkens (@remawilkens) June 4, 2019
Many experts wondered why Donald Trump’s family was part of the diplomatic trip, while U.S president usually only travel with their spouses.
While the president’s family members have all the right to travel at the same time, the public opinion was shocked to learn that taxpayers paid for all the members’ expenses.
But, there is more to it: “Trump is president, his sons Eric and Don Jr. are running the Trump Organization, which the president still profits from,” CREW spokesman Jordan Libowitz told Newsweek.
“The Scottish property does business with the United Kingdom government and is impacted by the government’s decisions,” Libowitz said. “The Trump brothers have a vested interest in making money for their father in the United Kingdom”, he added.
Boris Johnson, the new PM?
During his visit, Donald Trump said that Boris Johnson would “do a very good job. I think he would be excellent”, he shared in the interview to the Sun.
Trump endorses Johnson for UK leader, marking last stage in full historical reversal… as Johnson finishes making UK into a colony of its former colony.https://t.co/i5Lkc1daR9
— Richard D. Wolff (@profwolff) June 3, 2019
He also added that he met Boris Johnson last summer and thought he had “all the skills”. Moreover, Donald Trump also had a joint press conference with current Prime Minister Theresa May.
While May has been described as the most criticized Prime Minister of all times in the country, Donald Trump said during the conference “I have greatly enjoyed working with you. You are a tremendous professional and a person that loves your country dearly”.
This created a vivid reaction among the British politicians, public personalities and journalists.
It looks like Donald Trump did not follow the diplomatic rule to remain unbiased and chose to express his personal preferences. “No American president has intervened as directly and unapologetically in recent years in British affairs as Trump”, concluded Stephen Collison from CNN.
On the other hand, left-wing Labor Party’s candidate, Jeremy Corbyn, asked to meet with Donald Trump but the meeting did not happen. However, Corbyn was invited to attend a state banquet held by Queen Elizabeth II in honor of Donald Trump. Corbyn politely declined.