President Donald and First Lady Melania Trump have left the United Kingdom, after their three day visit.
Was it a success? By any conventional measure, the answer is yes – maybe even an outright triumph.
From London’s Daily Mail:
Donald Trump has left Britain at the end of his whirlwind three-day state visit after the Queen told him: ‘I hope you come to this country again soon’.
Mr Trump and his wife Melania, who moved on to Ireland this afternoon before going to France tomorrow, joined the monarch and Prince Charles to speak to some of the 300 Second World War veterans who fought on the Normandy beaches 75 years ago.
As they posed for the final photograph at the D-Day 75 commemoration event in Portsmouth, the President told the Queen: ‘It was a great honour to be with you’ and Her Majesty replied: ‘I hope you come to this country again soon’.
Mr Trump was heard saying: ‘Great woman. Great, great woman’ as he and Melania went to board his Marine One helicopter. They flew to Southampton Airport before being taken to Shannon in Ireland by Air Force Two.
The Queen, Mr Trump and Prince Charles had just met with six veterans who fought on D-Day following the grand commemoration ceremony in Portsmouth today, including one 93-year-old who flirted with First Lady Melania.
At a small lunch reception also attended by world leaders including Theresa May and Emmanuel Macron, the President told the veterans it was his honour to meet them and he had been moved by their stories.
When the Queen is outwardly sincere in showing how she was charmed by Mr. Trump, and expresses her hope that he will soon return, it is hard to see this as anything but a success….even if mainstream media tried its best to take it down by contorting his “nasty” comment about Meghan Markle into a personal attack rather than a specific reaction to her insults toward him, and featuring the inevitable protests (which, in actuality, were far diminished in size compared to his last visit).
Was this dumb luck? Or was it that our President, whose background involves dealing not with diplomats but with the construction trades, is learning as he goes?
Let’s just say that if your career involves dealing with construction trade unions, you probably have not learned a lot about the fine art of savoir faire.
In any event, this is what happened. And, since it certainly does not hurt for a President to establish good relations with foreign leaders, let’s hope it continues.
One last note: now that the Queen has given her figurative imprimatur to Donald Trump, does that make the (ob)noxious Mayor of London, sadiq khan, with his extended hate-fest against Mr. Trump, feel just a little small?
