It is pretty much impossible to respect the man, but we should respect the office. It will be there long after this idiot has gone. He's a temporary (thank God) custodian of it, nothing more. I welcome any official visit by the US President - even if it is him.
Putting aside the conspiracy theories around Russian hackers, Trump is the democratically elected leader of our most important ally and trading partner, and one that, thanks to the madness that is Brexit, we need to keep close to more than ever at the moment.
The economic numbers around the UK-US trade situation are staggering. Almost £1 in every £5 worth of goods and services that we export goes to the US, and the UK is both the number one foreign investor in the US, and the number two recipient of US investment, which between them support more than 2.5 million jobs, roughly split across both sides of the Atlantic. No other single country invests more in the UK than the US, and no other single country invests more in the US than the UK.
I am not defending or making excuses for Trump (he is inexcusable), but we need to look at the bigger picture. As a correspondent on the news this morning observed, if the Queen went to the US on an official visit, and was snubbed or told she wasn't welcome, a lot of British people would take that very personally, and wouldn't differentiate between disrespect to the Queen, and disrespect to the British people. Most Americans take a similar personal view on the way their President is received abroad, whether he is their choice, or not. However much the "special" nature of the relationship is open to debate, it is without any shadow of doubt, a critical relationship for this country, and one that will become even more critical in the event of a No Deal Brexit.
Trump might be not be capable of basic decency and diplomacy, but we are better than that. Four more years tops, and he's history. Take a longer view.
Last edited by: DP on Mon 3 Jun 19 at 13:40
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