US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have begun their three-day state visit to the UK, bringing with them some angry tweets, Brexit agitations, and no small amount of animosity for Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle.
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Before even touching down at Buckingham Palace on Monday morning, the POTUS issued a tweet criticising London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has previously criticised the decision to give the Trumps a royal welcome.
Trump tweeted that Khan – the city’s first-ever Muslim mayor – “is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me,” before saying he personally would be a “great friend” to the UK during his visit.
Khan later responded by sharing video in which he said Trump’s values are “the complete opposite of London’s values and the values in this country.”
Mayor of London, @SadiqKhan has a message for @realDonaldTrump on his arrival to London about how women ought to be treated globally. ‘Dear Trump…’ https://t.co/hJ5uhS9wU6 pic.twitter.com/MwlwJu5Lpf
— ELLEUK (@ELLEUK) June 3, 2019
With Trump’s tweet out the way, the couple was greeted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, where they enjoyed a tour of some royal artefacts, sat down for lunch and, presumably, had a totally normal and productive chat.
Notably, he made the five-kilometre trek from his digs at the US ambassador’s residence to the Palace by helicopter, avoiding any possibility of protests alongside a presidential motorcade.
The afternoon culminated in a royal banquet, which was attended by the Queen, her son Prince Charles, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. Prince William and Kate Middleton also made a showing.
Notably absent were Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the latter of whom Trump recently described as “nasty” for criticisms she made during his 2016 election campaign.
The official reason for The Duchess of Sussex’s absence is the fact she’s currently busy with little Archie, the royal couple’s new bub. Still, Trump’s “nasty” comment, which he denied making despite there being very clear audio of the conversation, has potentially impacted the state visit; as members of the royal family guided Trump through Buckingham Palace earlier in the afternoon, Prince Harry very clearly hung back from the fray.
Prince Harry, who was also at the private lunch, noticeably hung back. He walked in with Ivanka (was he supposed to show her round the exhibition?? or maybe they sat next to each other at lunch) and then drifted off to talk to the Lord Chamberlain (the Earl Peel). pic.twitter.com/NLyfNvkZx6
— Emily Andrews (@byEmilyAndrews) June 3, 2019
Despite publicly shit-talking Markle, the Queen issued a toast praising the commonality between the UK and the US.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I invite you all to rise and drink a toast to President and Mrs. Trump.”
Queen Elizabeth hosts the President and first lady at Buckingham Palace.
https://t.co/OjUYR1xhOI pic.twitter.com/v1J1RvdYXT— CNN (@CNN) June 3, 2019
The president is expected to meet with soon-to-be-former Prime Minister Theresa May tomorrow, where they will discuss the ongoing relationship between their nations. That visit, in which Trump will very likely continue his advocacy for the UK’s decisive Brexit split from the European Union, is expected to tee up with nationwide protests.
Don’t expect the initial pettiness of Trump’s visit to be his only display of empty vapidity.
