Kowtowing to Trump

Absolutely not. The state visit is our trump card, it is the one thing that will prevent D.T from causing us too much grief, hopefully! The thought of that visit being tarnished by political disagreements will not sit well with D.T, and therefore act as a sort of political brake. To leave the invitation till later, would look exactly what it would have been, a reward. No invitation? a punishment. The King and Queen will be well up for this, after all, it's part of their job to smooth difficult diplomatic paths, exactly as Prince William did in Paris.

I think Starmer is doing a good job, he even managed a Macron arm touch with Trump.. All credit to him for remaining pleasant and diplomatic..

Barleyfields

Of course Trump wanted his State visit. He’s a shallow narcissist. We knew an invitation would be forthcoming so there’s no brownie points for Starmer in that. It remains to be seen how Trump will treat the UK after he’s had his ego stroked with pomp and pageantry. He wouldn’t queer his pitch before that. I wouldn’t trust him an inch.

You only have to listen to Trump’s “did I say that?” to know that anything he says is not to be trusted.

Europe will become independent of the US regarding defence,

I think they are so far off that, that it is quite alarming.

And at what time scale?

I was cringing when I watched and listened to it, especially the handing over of the invitation but needs must, I think. Unfortunately, Starmer is not dealing with an honourable man and Trump could be posting criticism of the PM on his social media platform as we speak. I was more concerned with Trump denying that he has called Zelensky a dictator. Does he not remember what he has written?

Mollygo

Barleyfields

Of course Trump wanted his State visit. He’s a shallow narcissist. We knew an invitation would be forthcoming so there’s no brownie points for Starmer in that. It remains to be seen how Trump will treat the UK after he’s had his ego stroked with pomp and pageantry. He wouldn’t queer his pitch before that. I wouldn’t trust him an inch.

You only have to listen to Trump’s “did I say that?” to know that anything he says is not to be trusted.

I only what and read snippets of things, in compared to some.

When I have heard Trump say that, I had assumed that he meant he hadnt said whatever it was.

And it was the media or journalists who had got things wrong.

fancythat
I watched him say it last night.

Agreed, Wyllow3.
Exactly how do the critics think KS should have behaved? Refused to go at all? Refused to shake hands and called him an orange-faced megalomaniac?

Well done to Keir Starmer. He had no choice but to be charming to Trump to get what he wanted for the UK but he stood up to Vance when the freedom of speech topic came up saying the UK has had free speech for a very long time and always will.

I'm sure Mr Starmer will need a detox when he gets back to the UK after having to be nice to Trump.

Jaberwok

Absolutely not. The state visit is our trump card, it is the one thing that will prevent D.T from causing us too much grief, hopefully! The thought of that visit being tarnished by political disagreements will not sit well with D.T, and therefore act as a sort of political brake. To leave the invitation till later, would look exactly what it would have been, a reward. No invitation? a punishment. The King and Queen will be well up for this, after all, it's part of their job to smooth difficult diplomatic paths, exactly as Prince William did in Paris.

🙏👏👏👏👏

Trump is so unpredictable; if KS had put a foot wrong and offended him at any point in the proceedings, Trump may well have called a halt to the whole thing - mid press conference / mid lunch, mid whatever. I wouldn’t put it past Trump to do that.

Just imagine being under such intense scrutiny and pressure, with all the nay sayers back in the UK looking on, just willing you to c**k it up!

25Avalon - I did wonder if the invite may have actually been suggested by the king - after all, he takes a keen interest in world affairs and knows how valuable this sort of nonsense can be.

I would guess that Starmer and the king get along pretty well to be honest and whoever suggested it it did work like a charm... I bet Starmer had practiced taking it out of his pocket!

I'm sure Starmer did a fair bit of teeth gritting in order to get results. Good for him.

And yes. He did well with Vance too. Polite but firm.

All those on GN who moan about the monarchy will have to admit, it’s the main ‘trump’ card we hold.

Charles’ handwritten invite was a master stroke.

👑

Throughout his legal career, I’m sure Keir Starmer has had to defend criminals in court when he knew there was a strong chance that they were guilty. All part of the training.
Perfect diplomacy.

I'm not a Fan of Starmer but his team got this right for him. Years of being a Lawyer put to good use, he knew not to, as the Times said this morning "Poke the Bear" pulling an invite out from of the hat, from the King master stroke.

Any trade deal we have will be to Trump's advantage. Our armed forces will be put in danger to protect Trump's mineral rights. Starmer didn't have much choice as we are in such a weak position but it was still cringeworthy.

I imagined there would be many crossed fingers behind backs on the UK side during the meeting with Trump. I bet Starmer’s tongue is sore today from biting it.

Was it my imagination or an optical illusion that Trump’s yellow chair was larger than the one Starmer sat in?

Yes his was more throne like. As an aside, antique pairs of chairs were often made male and female. The male chair was the larger one. I suspect these chairs were an antique pair.

Yes I think that is a valid point Calendargirl and I am not particularly pro monarchy.

The 'state visit' isn't until 2028 so plenty of time for Trump to have a tantrum before that. Clever of Charles to offer one but not til then. However Scotland absolutely does not want Trump here, planning a visit or swanning about a golf course, so Charles can take Balmoral of the agenda

I am not a fan of Keir Starmer but I think he did a good job under difficult circumstances.
For all those anti-royalists out there, the royals have served us well.

Starmer took the knee before.

I think Keir Starmer did very well and I am not particularly a Labour supporter.
Trump is more than a business man than a politician and he doesn't mince his words but considering the amount of power he has and the present state of the world much better to have him onside.
Trump does say some outrageous things but he certainly stirs things up and if this gets good results then all the better.

Yes dragonfly - I hold my hands up!

I’m an anti-royalist but, I agree, the King has pulled it out of the bag here. Glad to see the royals earning their money!