It was less the welcome of a Foreign Secretary than a dazzled maitre d’
It must have been hard, yesterday, working in 24-hour TV news. Such was the magnitude of the occasion, producers felt obliged to cover it non-stop. Yet there wasn’t all that much they could show. Much of the footage was inevitably unremarkable (a plane slowly landing; a helicopter slowly taking off).
The footage of Donald Trump himself, meanwhile, was almost all shot from long distance, and even when it was shot from close-up (such as his personal guided tour of the Royal Collection, courtesy of the Queen) there were only pictures, no sound. We had no idea what he was saying, to the Queen or to anyone else.
As a viewer, I felt a bit like a penniless Victorian urchin, pressing my face forlornly against a sweet shop window. In the absence of hard information, we were confronted with endless platoons of pundits taking turns to regurgitate the same opinions
about the president’s tweets, his unpredictability, his disregard for “the rule book”, and so on. On Sky News, one commentator valiantly filled time by reporting on the quality of the Buckingham Palace grass. “The gorgeous lawns! How one longs for lawns that look that good…”
Simon Schama, the historian, popped up on both the BBC and Sky, where he spent most of his time fretting about what America might do to the “pathetically defenceless creature” that would be Britain, post-brexit. (“Does nobody read Aesop’s fables?”)
From a political point of view, the most entertaining footage was that of Trump being welcomed at Stansted airport by Jeremy Hunt.
In the shadow of Trump’s brooding, gorilla-like bulk, Mr Hunt looked even more skinnily boyish than usual. Still, there was no doubting his enthusiasm. He had the air not so much of a Foreign Secretary greeting a global
‘In the shadow of Trump’s brooding, gorilla-like bulk, Mr Hunt looked even more skinnily boyish than usual’
statesman, but of a dazzled maître d’ ushering a Hollywood actress in the direction of his very best table.
For his part, the president nodded politely, patted Mr Hunt on the arm, and moved on down the line of waiting dignitaries.
Straight afterwards, Mr Hunt dashed over to the cameras to report on his moment of triumph. He was practically glowing with pride.
“I was just saying we’re going to put on a fantastic show for him!” he beamed. His excitement was almost touching.
The presenter for Sky News pointed out that, moments before landing, Trump had tweeted a string of personal insults about Sadiq Khan, calling the Mayor of London “a stone cold loser”.
Mr Hunt, however, stuck up for the president with vigour, and protested that Mr Khan had “started” it.
Mr Khan is of course a member of the Labour Party, but I don’t think we can accuse Mr Hunt of being partisan. Such is the eagerness of Tory leadership contenders to make a favourable impression on Trump, he would probably have said the same if the Mayor were from his own party. Or even from his own family.