Trump in England

You’re probably wondering if Trump made a secret trip across the Channel while in Brussels.  He did not.

However, he is on the mind of many British people, and certainly the mind of the British Prime Minister after Trump’s administration leaked information about the Manchester Bombing before information was released by the British police, or Home Office.  And the British Parliament doesn’t want the man speaking at the Palace of Westminster when he does show up in London next year for an official visit.

What do the British people think of Trump?  As the Guardian puts it, if Trump is not a popular president in his own country, the opinion of him in Britain is even worse.  To give you an idea how British people feel about Trump, take a look at these numbers:

• 50%: Dangerous: The most popular word associated with Trump
• 39%: Unstable: Second most popular word associated with Trump
• 35%: Bigot: Third most popular word associated with Trump
• 54%: Percentage of People polled who expect Trump to be below average or awful as a president
• 55%: Percentage of people polled who say Britain’s Prime Minister (Teresa May) is strong enough to stand up for Britain’s interest when dealing with Trump.

Keep in mind that during Trump’s excursion from the Middle East to Europe, his popularity diminished each time Air Force One landed.  From his wife refusing to hold his hand, to shoving aside the President of the European Union so he could get to the front for a photo op, and then standing with other leaders as the President of France approached, only to watch him serve to the right away from Trump to embrace Angela Merkel.

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Not all people here disapprove of Trump, just as there are many Americans who voted for the guy, but still support him, even in light of his disastrous presidency (at least according to John Boehner, former Speaker of the House of Representatives).

On Friday I talked with two employees of a mobile phone company in Lincoln.  One of our phones drowned, so we were there to see if it could be necessitated, only to find out it was a goner.  However, one of the men wanted to talk about Trump.  The young man was a recent émigré from Lithuania.  His mother was Lithuanian while his dad was Russian.  He had been in the UK three years. His name was Alexander.

He thought Trump was a clown, but a clown to fear, and to distrust.  Perhaps the kind of clown Alexander envisioned was a Shakespearean character.   According to Professor of English Andrew Scott, a specialist in clowning culture, Alexander’s fool or clown could be  “King Lear’s fool who wanders around reminding everyone that they’re not as clever as think they are while talking in contorted double speak to undermine our sense of what we think is going on.”  Alexander saw Trump the clown thinking he can collaborate with Vladimir Putin.  Alexander expressed to me that Putin was no fool, but a very clever KGB trained specialist who will not become Trump’s best friend.

People we’ve known for years are as exasperated about Trump as they are of their fellow citizens decision to Brexit the European Union.

Trump may not have traveled to Britain recently, but he may not be as welcomed here as he was in Saudi Arabia last week.