President Donald Trump will begin an unprecedented second state visit to the United Kingdom today (Sept. 16). He is the first such president to be officially received a second time by the royal family, and his return is almost certain to cause fractious pearl-clutching in the Fourth Estate on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the run-up to today’s visit, which will continue through Thursday, the British legacy media has been burning the midnight oil to denigrate and castigate Trump. But much like in the United States, the semi-journalistic scribblings that pass for current affairs reporting are way outside the spectrum of public opinion.
Trump, Pageantry, and the Palace
Arriving in Britain this evening, the pomp and circumstance will begin tomorrow with a formal greeting at Windsor Castle by the Prince and Princess of Wales — William and Catherine. Next, the Trumps will meet King Charles and Queen Camilla and will be escorted to the castle through the grounds in a carriage.
The culmination of the day will be a state banquet hosted at Windsor and attended by high-society individuals, business leaders, and high-profile politicians.
Thursday is billed as a “business day,” when Trump will visit Chequers, the country house of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to talk with him and key cabinet officials. It is here that the real substance of the visit will unfold. All the while, the nation’s left-leaning press will be demanding that Starmer “hold Trump to account” for an unspecified list of grievances. Such posturing belies some surprising data.
Guess Who Wins?
As is largely the case in the United States, the mainstream media in the United Kingdom skews to the left and believes it has the mantle of morality in determining which politicians are “acceptable.” While Sir Keir’s Labour Party remains mostly in the good graces of his Fleet Street allies, the political barometer is reading “stormy.”
