Theresa May has to tell Mr Trump a few home truths
THE state of US-UK relations clearly doesn’t depend on the speed with which a British prime minister is able to meet a new American president. But it’s nonetheless a feather in Mrs May’s cap that she should have such an early appointment with President Trump on Friday in the Oval Office.
It’s all very well having officials and emissaries meeting to discuss the big issues but real political and diplomatic relationships are forged first-hand.
That’s one reason why some of the criticism of Mrs May for rushing to meet him is so idiotic. Like it or not, Donald Trump is president of the USA. Wishing it was different won’t make it go away. A British PM who did not want to forge a relationship with a new US president as soon as possible would not merely be foolish, they’d be negligent.
The personal chemistry between leaders matters. It can change history. Anyone who doubts that the personality and character of individual leaders have no bearing on how they behave in office has clearly not been paying attention.
The phenomenon that brought President Trump to the White House is pretty much built on his personality. His policy platform was big and bold but it played a definite second fiddle to the idea of having The Donald in the Oval Office.
In earlier years the relationship between George W Bush and Tony Blair plainly had an impact on both the timing and fact of the Iraq War. And the friendship between Ronald Reagan and Baroness Thatcher was more than simply a meeting of minds – it changed the world.
SO IT’S not just that President Trump’s personality matters – it’s that how he gets on with Mrs May could change everything. We’ve heard lots in recent days, for example, about the new US administration’s keenness to agree a free trade deal with the UK. In his interview with Michael Gove last week Donald Trump said he would “work very hard” to get a trade deal “done quickly and done properly”. So we know where his instincts over this lie.
But his apparent willingness to do a deal contrasts with the