5 things to watch on Pres. Trump’s trip to Europe.
President Donald Trump departs Sunday for a five-day trip to Europe, heading first to the United Kingdom for a three-day state visit before continuing on to Ireland, where he will meet with the prime minister and visit one of his Trump-branded properties and pay his respects at Normandy on the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
With all that royal treatment comes the risk of a presidential breach of royal protocol or the possibility of an improper interaction. “Meghan is officially on maternity leave, Harry too, so they’ve got an excuse,” Jobson said. “Also, you’ve got to remember that despite them being this fixation for the media, Meghan and Harry are very low down the pecking order in terms of a state visit. You’ve got more important, senior members of the Royal family there.”
President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama had an intimate dinner at Kensington Palace with Prince William and Kate, along with Prince Harry, during which the Obamas were even greeted by a pajama-clad Prince George.Even as the president’s visit to the UK is more for the ceremony than the substance, the state visit couldn’t come at a more politically fraught time in London.
“The substantive issues here are very challenging and the UK is undergoing a very significant leadership contest and increasingly looking like they may leave the EU without a deal this fall, so the challenges are enormous,” Conley said. Beyond the issue of Brexit, the president has also waded into the leadership contest for the next prime minister, expressing his favor for Boris Johnson, who is vying to be the next prime minister, calling him a"friend of mine."
The president has also offered praise for Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, who actually campaigned alongside Trump during the 2016 campaign as the two drew parallels between Trump’s anti-establishment campaign and the UK’s Brexit vote. In addition to the tricky diplomacy surrounding Johnson and Farage, there’s another local politician who the president has not held back from publicly sparring with in the past: London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
It remains to be seen whether the president, who is not one to let slights go unchallenged, will be able to resist the urge to fire back at Khan’s latest jab. Last year’s visit was choreographed in such a way that the president was mostly able to avoid passing by the large protests. But on the state visit, which will take him to many of the main sites in London, it will be almost impossible that the president won’t pass a demonstration or two.
“If he takes the opportunity to raise issues like European defense spending or undercuts NATO, again, this simply undercuts U.S. national security and it’s difficult for me to imagine a U.S. commander in chief wishing to do that,” Conley said.
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