It’s astonishing that Theresa May has agreed to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump, says Dan Hodges. A policy of constructive engagement might have made sense 18 months ago, when there was still room for hope that “his bombastic rhetoric was merely campaign braggadocio”. But it has become more than apparent since then that Trump is every bit as bad as we feared, and that efforts to court him are futile. Emmanuel Macron, for instance, thought he’d formed a special bond with Trump during his visit to Washington in April – but it counted for nothing at the G7 summit weeks later. Trump isn’t interested in making international friends. He came to power on a promise to defy and
humiliate “the limp-wristed global elite”. So while he’ll no doubt enjoy having tea with the Queen in July, and relish the pomp of his subsequent state visit, it won’t convince him to change any of his policies. Meanwhile, photographs of him being glad-handed by cabinet ministers will do untold damage to the already toxic Tory brand. If the PM has any sense, she’ll rescind the invitation.
