Reuters“To everyone’s surprise, the vulgar rebels won!”
A British foreign secretary wrote in his diary on November 9, 2016, after Donald Trump unexpectedly defeated Hillary Clinton to win the White House.
“This looks very much like an abuse of power.”
The then prime minister wrote in her memoirs that she woke up and realized that Trump’s Washington had said that US troops would withdraw from the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, “without mentioning Britain and other countries” Their troops fought alongside them”.
Sir Alan Duncan and Theresa May were among the authors of the remarks, with current Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the forefront of his thoughts on what impact a Trump or Kamala Harris presidency would have on the so-called special relationship between the UK. Please pay attention to these remarks.
“Dealing with Donald Trump and his government was like dealing with any other world leader,” the current Mrs. May wrote in her book reflecting on her career.
“He is a unique American president.”
AFPThere will also be challenges if the Democratic vice president wins. She has yet to meet Sir Keir and has limited affinity for Europe, but she will be a more traditional president than her rival.
Sir Keir believes things may be different this time if Trump wins next week, but the past few days suggest otherwise.
The Trump campaign’s accusations of election interference amounted to, at best, a silly LinkedIn post that ended up sparking a transatlantic spat.
“It needs to be seen for what it is. It happens at every election, every political party does it,” Sir Keir told me, referring to people who voluntarily work for one side or the other in US elections.
But the difference is obvious. In previous incidents, it didn’t cause huge brawls.
It’s a reminder that the Trump team can be arrogant, unpredictable, have a long memory for perceived slights, and don’t seem to really care about their relationship with the British government.
If he wins, what exactly will happen to Britain’s most cherished overseas partnerships?
Before last week’s row, on the surface relations between the new prime minister and the United States were going well.
I accompanied Sir Keir and Foreign Secretary David Lamy when they met with the former President in New York a few weeks ago.
We stood precariously on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk, with the 58-story Trump Tower behind us.
I think we did it. But the two faced a similar balancing act – they were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, but much of the conversation during the trip was not about them meeting one of the world leaders present, but whether they would get time to talk to one. Candidates wishing to attend the meeting.
They did attend that meeting – that meeting tells you a lot about the work that British diplomats in the US and London do, and about the work that Sir Keir and Mr Lamy do to build bridges with the man who may soon be president again determination.
The Prime Minister later told me BBC News Radio “We all want to make sure we have a good relationship.”
“As prime minister, it is my responsibility to ensure that I maintain a good relationship with the president,” he said.
“I’m a big believer in relationships. The ability to pick up the phone and talk things through with them if necessary. So it was a great dinner and I’m really happy that we were able to do that.
There’s no doubt that I’m glad, at least to some degree, because there have been a lot of disrespectful things said about Trump, especially David Lammy, who once described his host as a “misogynistic, sympathetic Neo-Nazi sociopath” and “wigged tyrant”.
Labor’s cabinet has no shortage of spoken words about the man who may soon be back in the Oval Office.
PAFrom a policy perspective, Trump’s election as president is likely to bring about rapid changes in areas such as climate change, international trade (significant increases in import taxes and tariffs), and Ukraine.
Unlike the Harris government, they may offer the UK a free trade agreement, but the terms of the agreement appear unlikely to attract London to sign up.
And what about Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris?
Diplomatic courtesy suggests that if you meet one candidate in a foreign election, you will also meet the other.
But that is unlikely to happen to Harris, despite Sir Keir’s three visits to the US since July.
Ten blamed the stress of the campaign on the Vice President’s diary.
It’s also worth mentioning what’s obvious – although Sir Keir and Harris have never met, she is far more well-known and more senior in senior roles than her rivals. Tradition may be followed.
Sir Keir has gone out of his way to spend a lot of time with President Biden over the past four months, including two trips to the White House and a recent meeting in Berlin.
It’s a less-than-perfect way to get a sense of how his vice president might govern — and there’s no chance of building a personal relationship — but it’s not completely useless in terms of getting a handle on something.
Oh, and it’s worth making a pretty big point too – no matter who wins. The United States is increasingly paying attention to the rise of the East, especially the rise of China. Europe no longer matters that much to Washington, and that’s true regardless of the outcome.
Westminster and the world are waiting.
Whatever happens, the conversation is expected to turn soon to whether and when the Prime Minister receives an invitation to an early New Year’s visit to Washington.
Leaders heading to the White House will line up.
So how about a state visit to the UK from a president unlike any other, or the first female president of the United States, as Donald Trump was so enthusiastic about in 2019?
let’s see.
Between now and the US election on November 5, BBC reporters around the world are exploring the impact the outcome may have on their local areas, and how people around the world are feeling about the race for the White House.
