Trump plumbs new depths

He's not coming here any time soon:

US diplomats have dropped plans for Donald Trump to conduct a visit to Britain in January amid a war of words between the two countries’ leaders.

Mr Trump, the US president, had been pencilled in for a ‘working visit’ in the first month of 2018 to formally open America’s new London embassy.

The trip, a scaled down version of a state visit with no meeting with the Queen, was intended to allow Mr Trump to come to the UK while avoiding the mass protests a full state visit would likely trigger.

However, The Telegraph can reveal that the trip has been pushed into the long grass, with no new date in the diary picked.

I can't read any further as it's paywalled, but that's good enough

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/30/donald-trumps-working-visit-uk-dropped-tensions-theresa-may/

Mind you, there are a few disappointed people on twitter; they had Plans

I don't think that the fact that it wasn't going to be a State Visit would have made much difference to the scale of the protests...

There’s a growing theory that he actually thought Britain First was similar to his philosophy of America First.

Well, that's what I thought when it first happened which just shows how stupid he is - he is a loose cannon and is no listening to his advisers unless they are equally stupid.

Why do you think Trump was asked and subsequently to visited :-

France
Germany
Italy
Poland
Israel
Palestine
Saudi Arabia
Vatican City
Belgium
Japan
South Korea
China
Vietnam
The Phillippines

Why are Merkel, Macron et al not viewed in the same light as Theresa May?

I have no appetite for Trump the man but I can not understand why after hosting Leaders from many countries that have serious dubious qualities the President of the United States is being singled out.

Politics is a game of diplomacy and so far it appears the French and Germans understand that better than 'some' in the UK.

Anybody would think we are always right but Aung San Suu Kyi has proved a point about being blinded by beliefs has she not.

Well, if 'the will of the people' can prevail with Brexit why can't it prevail when 'the people' make it pretty clear that they don't want him here?

Maizie d

Not b@@#£# Brexit again. You don't believe in 'the will of the people' and Brexit.

How would we know what the 'will of the people' would be?

You are not answering the question:-

" Why are Merkel, Macron et al not viewed in the same light as Theresa May?"

Because trisher leaving the EU was decided by a legal and democratic referendum ( as you know) whereas people ( some people) deciding to say that they don’t want the POTUS to visit here is neither, but simply their own views.
Diplomacy dictates that he will have to visit here at some point, just as he has visited many other countries.

I have no intention of answering your question in the way you want me to, POGS, because I don't think there's much logic involved in these decisions, just estimations of self interest. It's currently not in the interests of either May or Trump to expose the POTUS to embarrassing demonstrations.

Whether or not it is in the interests of the UK depends on where you stand on Brexit (sorry, it has to be involved) as some people don't want to be making supplicants' trade deals with the US which mean accepting their lower standards and some people do.

Oooh! I've morphed into trisher

You have to forget ‘the man’ hard though it is, and accept the President and his office rather, instead.We have a close relationship with the US and must maintain it.

And I don't think Trump understands the meaning of 'diplomacy'

Aplogies MaizieD But your comments make you rather interchangeable.

So, as Leavers were quite prepared to say 'stuff ruining the UK economy' I'm perfectly prepared to say 'stuff diplomacy' in this instance

Aplogies MaizieD But your comments make you rather interchangeable.

Well, great minds do think alike, you know...

Whether he does or not, the government here does.One day, sooner or later, he will be gone and we will be dealing with another President,but soured relations will linger on if we aren’t careful.

"Why are Merkel, Macron et al not viewed in the same light as Theresa May?"
The french have made no bones about the fact that they can't stand him. You should have heard the debate on France 24 last night. Germany has no need to kowtow, they're economically stable.
Trump knows that the UK needs the USA so he doesn't need to make an effort.
He's not so daft when it comes to business.

Is DT really not coming? I can't find a mention of it on the BBC news website...

The Telegraph is reporting that his visit proposed for January is cancelled.

The Avaaz petition has over 5 million 1 hundred thousand votes now, so a lot of people want to stop him. There is also another to twitter to ask them to close his account.

"What about the historic 'special relationship' between the UK and the US? While there are undoubtedly close links between the two countries at the personal level and between intelligence services, history (Suez, Grenada, the Iraq war) suggests that at government level, the ‘special relationship’ is more like an unrequited crush: the relationship between a devoted fan and an indifferent star. In the Trump era, in light of his tweets, a better analogy might now be the relationship between a helpless lamppost and a passing dog. And for those who think Brexit and Trump are blows against the 'elite': remember that the US/UK special relationship is about as ‘anti-establishment’ as Marie Antoinette.

So there's no good reason to suppose that the UK will receive any sort of special treatment from Trump. Rather, the last day’s ranting has confirmed what Trump had already demonstrated time and again: he is no friend or ally of the United Kingdom. Angrily tweeting his incoherent, hateful thoughts from his golden toilet, his only interest in the UK is how soon and how much he can grab us by the country.

The alternative course is clear: making our first priority a close relationship with the EU – either as a former member or by retaining membership – alongside an increased commitment to multilateral institutions, regardless of Trump's views of them. In Britain’s past, we may have been the Greece to America's Rome; but there is no future in being the Sansa Stark to Trump’s Ramsay Bolton."

infacts.org/trump-visit-would-fire-up-anti-brexit-movement-bring-it-on/

Here's a good idea.

Do you think we could borrow Yanis Varoufakis Jura? He does speak a lot of sense as politicians go.

Fennel

Reading your post @ 15.17 anybody would think Merkel and Macron had not invited Trump to their countries , very confusing.

It is not a case of who 'likes' Trump it is a case that Trump has visited the likes of Germany and France at the request of Merkel and Macron but when it comes to May she is viewed with contempt for doing the same.

Why?

It appears Trumps troubles may just be beginning with Michael pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. He had already stopped speaking to Trump's legal team.

So brexit puts us in such a weak and wobbly position in the world that we will have to grovel to the DUP and Trump, China and Saudi Arabia, and a few more - to survive tragic for sure.

I don't know POGS

a bit jura2 - if TM invited Trump that is wrong, but, as POGS has stated, Merkel and Macron inviting Trump passes without comment.

Why are we grovelling - having put the visit on hold - but they, having already enjoyed Trump's visit, are not?

Unfortunately, Macron's and Merkel's approval ratings are lower than Trump's - why?
Because people are not happy with the status quo and he is offering hope - probably false hope but some are listening.