When Keir Starmer greeted President Trump on his visit to Washington, he held a piece of paper in his hand that would have been rather welcome for The Donald. It was nothing less than a formal invitation from King Charles for the second-term president to conduct a second state visit to Britain, and it would be an occasion on which every single indulgence would be offered to him. The letter, which Trump proudly demonstrated in front of the cameras, was emollient in nature, to say nothing of almost parodically polite. It said that ‘I can only say that it would be [a] pleasure to extend that invitation once again, in the hope that you [will at] some stage be visiting Turnberry and a detour to a relatively near neighbour might not cause you too much inconvenience. An alternative might perhaps be for you to visit Balmoral.’
Not only did the letter suggest that ‘quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom’; it also acknowledged that: ‘As you will know this is unprecedented by a US President. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.’ The King concluded that: ‘In so doing, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud.’
Such a reaching-out – the unkind might call sycophancy – would have been unheard of during Trump’s first state visit to Britain in 2019. Then he was greeted with baying mobs of protesters, and even Elizabeth II, who Trump has consistently gone out of his way to praise – to the detriment of a pair of Montecito residents – was said to have disliked him, calling him ‘very rude’ according to Craig Brown’s recent biography of the monarch. Yet back then he was expected to be a toothless one-term president, rather than the vital and influential force that he has re-emerged as. The king, like Starmer’s administration, has seen what is required to keep the capricious POTUS happy, and has fallen into line accordingly, in unprecedented fashion.
Charles met Biden while the latter was president, and the relationship between the two was similar to that of countless associations that Queen Elizabeth had: formal, correct and devoid of any personal warmth. Elizabeth had her own favourites – she was particularly fond of Eisenhower, who was, to date, the only president who was invited to Balmoral, which she always viewed as her private home – but the literal and figurative red carpet that has been extended to Trump is unprecedented. As, admittedly, much of his administration has been so far.
The royal establishment will be watching the arrival of the new president on his second state visit with a mixture of fascination and unease. Trump is a fully committed monarchist and apparent Anglophile who is far more impressed by the trappings of royalty than most of Britain is, and will no doubt be an appreciative guest. His Truth Social account will doubtless be full of glowing praise for the king, Balmoral and anywhere else royal he is hosted on his visit.
Yet Trump will not mistake the warmth of his welcome for genuine appreciation of him or his works. The one-time Apprentice star knows the value of a deal – after all, he wrote the literal book on it – and he will know that the government’s string-pulling in this regard will have a level of reciprocity expected from it. Time will tell if he responds, or if he snaffles the figurative complimentary toiletries from the Balmoral bathrooms without even leaving a kind review on TripAdvisor.
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