According to the latest statements from White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, it’s possible that in the coming days British Prime Minister Theresa May will pay a visit to Washington.
In this regard, the Telegraph, while citing an unnamed source in May’s administration, presented the list of matters that the British Prime Minister is going to discuss during a personal meeting with the new president of the United States. The media source notes that May is planning to announce London’s consent to Washington starting a bilateral dialogue with Moscow. It seems unlikely that Donald Trump needs “permission” from anyone, especially from his British allies. However, the Telegraph fails to provide any details, which can be regarded as an attempt to persuade British citizens and people of the world that Washington has been obtaining “permissions” from London before taking any step.
No British media source will admit that Theresa May will have to apologize to Donald Trump before handing out any sort of “permission”, since British politicians and media sources have been making all sorts of wild allegations against Trump in a bid to diminish his chances of getting elected.
It shouldn’t escape one’s attention that long before Donald Trump was elected, virtually all representatives of the British political elite have been making insulting remarks about the future 45th president of the United States. As it’s been noted by the Sunday Telegraph, even the most tasteless in society might hesitate to repeat some of these remarks in public. On the eve of the US presidential election , British politicians continued with humiliating remarks about Trump, while the Sunday Telegraph spotted at least 23 instances of UK leaders dubbing Trump as one of the most malignant figures in modern politics.
Most people are ignorant of the fact that last November a secret report sent by the British ambassador to Washington, Sir Kim Darroch was leaked to the media. In this report, the British diplomatic envoy reveals his ideas on how Donald Trump should be approached for London to be able to shape his future policies to obtain maximum benefits from them. It’s curious that, according to the Telegraph, Theresa May’s visit was prepared by the same Sir Kim Darroch.
By stating that Donald Trump is an inexperienced, emotional person, who is susceptible to external influence, the British ambassador to Washington has clearly put London in an awkward position. Yet, it seems that British elites have complete trust in the judgement of Sir Kim Darroch, which is why British Prime Minister Theresa May and her Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson have been so active lately. The latter has previously described Trump as a delusional person when he was commenting on his promise to ban Muslims from entering the United States, but now, suddenly, he seems to be fond of the 45th President of the United States.
In recent days, the British media has been trying to put particular emphasis on the allegation that Trump will be meeting the British Prime Minister before meeting any other foreign politician. However, we must not forget that the first British politician, which had a meeting with the the-then president elect was Nigel Farage, the man behind the British referendum on the withdrawal from the EU and the leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).
So the assurances made by the representatives of the British establishment about the unconditional love and affection they have towards Donald Trump and his government – is nothing but the latest example of politicians shifting opportunistically with the wind. London is going to try to “tame” Trump by all means possible, as evealed by a number of British media sources. But it seems unlikely to succeed.
Jean Périer is an independent researcher and analyst and a renowned expert on the Near and Middle East, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”