Trump is set to visit the Uk on the 3rd of June, but many people don’t want him to.
A series of protests and boycotts are already lining up, as this could be one of the tensest state visits in recent years.
So who’s not showing up to the state dinner?
Well, the Duchess of Sussex; Meghan Markle was openly against Trump, is set not to meet the US president during his state visit. Not quite snubbing the meeting, but she is on maternity leave from her duties, which conveniently includes state dinners and the such. Back in 2016, she made her position on Trump quite clear :
“You’re not just voting for a woman if it’s Hillary because she’s a woman, but certainly because Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he’s painting.”
She is not the only royal with issues with the Trumpster, Prince Charles and Donald Trump have very different views on climate change. So the traditional invitation for visiting heads of state to Clarence house for tea might get lost in the mail. Not to mention that the last time the US president was in the UK, Prince Charles and Prince William were both err… “busy”. Charles at a board meeting and William at a charity polo match, giving him quite the royal “sod off” if you ask me.
So what do the politicians think?
Parliament speaker John Bercow, Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrats Leader Sir Vince Cable all don’t want to meet trump and have already made it clear that they won’t be attending the state dinner.
So far the only people in Parliament who seem to have openly and publically welcomed trump are:
- Theresa May (who barely has any friends at this point)
- Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt who said “the UK should offer the best possible welcome to the president( but let’s be honest it’s his job to be nice to Trump)
So the state dinner might have a few vacant seats… but that’s not the only place where the US president might get a cold reception.
State visits sometimes include a speech in the British parliament, but even here, there are already people who aren’t too keen on him being allowed into the building, let alone the House of Commons.
The moment everyone’s tension will be highest though will be two moments: Two speeches by the US president, one at the state dinner and one in the House of Commons. While the state dinner is important, the speech in the House of Commons is as well but parliament is a little more complicated. House Speaker John Bercow said he doesn’t feel that Donald Trump should be allowed to formally address the MPs but his office will put the request through the normal process just the same (despite he can technically Veto the speech).
And last but not certainly not least is the 200,000 protestors estimate to demonstrate. Aside from the return of the Trump baby, it seems that robot trump is also making its way to the UK.
And of course, the ironic twist of fate is that said “dumping” robot, was made in, you guessed it… China.
And with the success of the Trump baby balloon last year, it’s organisers are planning for a bigger one with talks about the possibility of a hot air balloon version.
But is all this necessary, in the past the Queen entertained Romania’s Ceauşescu, Zimbabwe’s Mugabe and Zaire’s Mobutu. Alongside them, Trump might seem an angel.
The more hate is thrown at him, the more his supporters will rally to defend him. Which raises the question, if so many people hate him and want him out of office, why is there a fear that he will take the second term?
Never sleeping mind 