When Donald Trump touches down in London on Monday morning to start a three-day state visit, the well-oiled machinery of state will swing immediately into action. The red carpet will be thoroughly rolled out.
Trump will be whisked directly from the airport to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with the Queen in his own blacked-out limousine.
Last time he came to the UK, on a briefer "working visit," there were huge protests and these are expected to be reprised, so there will be no carriage rides or other public-facing events of the kind Barack Obama enjoyed on his state visit and that are usually extended to foreign leaders.
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In a move that has surprised many, Trump, Melania, and the Queen will be joined by Prince Harry for lunch (Meghan Markle, who criticized Trump as divisive before she became a princess, won’t be there. Maternity leave is making a wonderful diplomat of her.)
In the evening, the Trump clan will be honored with a full state banquet at which all the other senior royals will be present, including William and Kate.
Monday will therefore be an important rite of passage for the younger generation of royals, particularly given that Trump once opined how sad he was he never got the opportunity to bed William and Harry’s mom, Princess Diana, and blamed Kate for having topless photos taken of her.
Robert Lacey, the writer and historical consultant on the Netflix drama The Crown, told The Daily Beast, “I would imagine that the Queen has spoken to William and Harry to emphasize the importance of overcoming their personal feelings when it comes to receiving the types of figures that other democracies throw up. This is part of their long term destiny, and right wing electorates around the world probably will be producing more and more of these populist leaders in the years to come.
“How well and how gracefully an urbane and dignified royal family can meet such leaders is going to be an important test for the new generation.
“Elizabeth II has had to smile and be gracious to some real villains. Meeting Donald Trump is very different to meeting the Idi Amins and Robert Mugabes of this world, and I suspect the Queen will be quietly reminding William and Harry that Donald Trump is an elected head of state—from a very old and loyal ally in two world wars, not to mention the Cold War—and that their duty is to rise above whatever personal feelings they may have."
Indeed. For a thin-skinned leader like Donald Trump, one whose flunkies know he wouldn’t even like to see the name of one of his political rivals painted on a ship, protecting and flattering Trump’s ego will be the order of the day.
This is one of the arts the royals are masters of, and there is said by sources to be a "confidence" inside the walls of Buckingham Palace that, whatever his domestic troubles or the contempt in which millions of Britons may hold him, the president and first lady—and his four adult children who are reportedly all coming along for the ride too—will leave British shores satisfied in the knowledge that they have had the deluxe package.
The palace, the Home Office, and the Foreign Office know from experience how incredibly delicate the task of handling Trump is. On his last trip, he caused a major diplomatic incident when he criticized outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May’s handling of Brexit and accused her of ignoring his advice to "sue" the European Union.
Keeping Trump away from microphones is certainly one goal the American and British teams will be united on.
Unfortunately, that might be easier said than done as the packed program unfolds.
After lunch with the Queen and Harry on Monday, Trump and family will be led to the palace’s picture gallery, where a special exhibition of items of historical significance to the United States from the Royal Collection will be displayed.
Afterwards, the president and his wife, accompanied by Prince Andrew, will lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier at Westminster Abbey.
They will then join Prince Charles for tea at Clarence House, followed by the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace, which as noted above, William and Kate are expected to attend.
On Tuesday, Trump has a business breakfast with the leaders of Britain’s biggest listed companies, then it’s off to 10 Downing Street to meet Theresa May, followed by a joint press conference (might be interesting). A return dinner for the Queen (represented by Prince Charles) at the American embassy is the centerpiece of Tuesday.
Wednesday will be the biggest public event of all: the National Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Southsea Common, Portsmouth, alongside over 300 D-Day veterans. Heads of state and government representatives “from the countries involved in the historical military operation” will also attend, the palace says.
Many of the events will naturally be televised, although the banquets will likely not be.
Ben Rhodes, Obama’s former national security adviser, who accompanied the president on almost every one of his foreign trips, including his 2011 state visit to the UK, in a recent Guardian podcast, said that as far as possible, Trump’s team will be focused on limiting his interaction “with people who are protesting against him and disagree with him.”
Instead, Rhodes says, this visit is all about flattering the president in an effort to keep the U.S. onside as the U.K. lurches towards Brexit, and making Trump look good to his base, and himself.
And when it comes to making someone as obsessed with status as Donald Trump feel good, the royals are a strong card for a nation to play.
“I think what he mainly cares about is being center of attention,” Rhodes said in the podcast. “A lot of Donald Trump’s life has been about wanting to be accepted by the elite... He resented people who he thought were fancier than him, and that’s why he was building these gold buildings and gaudy clubs…
“If you can get accepted by the Queen of England and the royal family, it doesn’t get any bigger than that. It’s the inner sanctum of the global elite… I think he is motivated by this sense of, ‘I want show everyone, here I am the president of the United states sitting next to the Queen of England.’”
Certainly, Trump made good mileage out of his last visit with Her Majesty: “We got along fantastically well,” Trump recounted at a campaign rally, “You know, sometimes if you like somebody you get along—good chemistry—the time goes by. So we were there for about an hour.”
In fact, tea ran to 47 minutes, but don’t expect anyone to bring a little detail like that up.
This visit is all about making Donald Trump feel amazing.
No contradiction, no comeback, lots of nodding from the most famous people in the world.
Yes, he’s going to love it, as long as he doesn't look towards the sky and see himself represented as a flying, screaming baby blimp.
