Never a Dull Moment . . .

VOCABULARY

Honestly, since Donald Trump took office and became President of the United States there has never been a dull moment. When I get up in the morning, even before drinking my delicious mug of tea ,I switch on the news to see what Mr Trump has been up to while I was asleep. Although he promised all along that he would ban Muslims from Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Libya or Yemen (What about Saudi Arabia?) from entering the USA, and also threatened to bar refugees from doing the same, no one dreamt that he would actually be able to do it and especially not so quickly. In countries all over the world, people are in uproar and demonstrations have been taking place all week.

The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, was in America and she was the first European head of government to meet Donald Trump. She didn’t want to get involved when journalists asked her if she agreed with Trump’s policies and said that this was America’s politics and nothing to do with Britain. Well, Mrs May, as we immediately discovered, that was not exactly true. Many British citizens, who are Muslims and come from one of the above mentioned seven countries, were also barred from re-entering the USA. One of these unfortunate people is Sir Mo Farah, the Olympian athlete who is a British citizen but was born in Somalia. He was welcomed into Britain from Somalia at the age of eight and given the chance to realise his dreams. Sir Mo became a household name in Britain after winning gold medals at the Olympics for long distance running. On 1st January, he received a knighthood from the Queen for his contribution to sport. On 27th January, Donald Trump made him feel like an alien by barring him from the USA, where his wife and four children live. After Mrs May intervened the president made an exception for him, but what about the other quarter of a million Britons who are affected?

Then there is the story about Trump’s planned state visit to England, which is expected to cost the British taxpayer £10 million in security to keep protesters away from the president. Theresa May has put the Queen in a very difficult position by inviting Donald Trump on a state visit, before waiting to see what sort of president he would turn out to be. However, Queen Elizabeth II is used to these problems as there have been many controversial state visits including Vladimir Putin, in 2003, and the Chinese President Xi Jinping, in 2015. Almost two million people have signed a petition to have this visit cancelled and to ban Trump from entering the country. But Downing Street insists the state visit will go ahead, despite worldwide outrage over Mr Trump’s 90-day travel ban. Previous presidents, such as Ronald Regan, George H. W. Bush or Bill Clinton did not receive this honour. George W. Bush and Barack Obama were welcomed by the Queen, but the state visit took place 32 months after they had become president. So what is the rush? Maybe Mrs May sees that Europe is falling out with Britain, due to Brexit, and now needs all the friends she can get.

Even though the Queen never gets involved in politics and is never supposed to give her opinion on political matters (although she was once overheard saying that Britain should "just get on with Brexit") she must have given her approval. So, in the not too distant future, we can expect to see President Trump riding up the Mall towards Buckingham Palace in a golden carriage (to match his hair) with the lovely Melania at his side. He will surely enjoy the pomp and splendor that comes with such an exclusive invitation by the Queen – and it seems that no amount of signatures is going to stop that! to take office – ein Amt antreten never a dull moment – niemals langweilig mug of tea – ein Häferl Tee to switch on – einschalten to be up to sth. – etw. aushecken to promise – versprechen all along – schon immer to threaten – drohen to bar – aussperren refugees – Flüchtlinge uproar – Aufruhr to agree with – zustimmen policies – Politik immediately – sofort to discover – herausfinden above mentioned – obengenannt unfortunate – unglücklich to realise one’s dreams – seine Träume verwirklichen household name – ein Begriff to receive a knighthood – zum Ritter geschlagen werden to intervene – eingreifen exception – Ausnahme to turn out to be – sich herausstellen to sign a petition – eine Petition unterzeichnen previous – ehemalig honour – Ehre the rush – die Eile to fall out with sbd. – sich mit jmd. zerstreiten due to – wegen overheard – zufällig gehört approval – Zustimmung in the not too distant future – demnächst a golden carriage – eine goldene Kutsche to match – passend pomp and splendour – Pracht und Herrlichkeit