Donald Trump hopes to use his state visit to the UK as an opportunity to enlist London in his escalating trade war with China, analysts told RT, noting that the British have a hard time saying ‘no’ to Washington’s requests.
Britain has rolled out the red carpet for the US president, who spent the second day of his trip to the UK with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. With the powerless prime minister set to step down just days after the state visit is concluded, Trump is well-positioned to take advantage of the so-called “special relationship” between the two nations as he lobbies Washington’s allies to get on board with his trade war against China.
Trump wants trade war, UK wants trade deal
Trump is clearly enjoying being treated like royalty, but he hopes to accomplish more than just inspect the Queen’s Guard, political analyst Chris Bambery told RT.
“Trump wants to bring the UK on board with his trade war and his cold war against China,” Bambery said.
“And of course what he’s dangling to the Brits is the possibility of a trade deal post-Brexit, which would supposedly benefit the UK economy.”
David Coburn, an MEP for Scotland, saw things similarly, noting that the UK “obviously” seeks a trade deal with the US. Such a deal, Coburn said, would be tremendously beneficial for the UK economy.
Meeting with a ‘cadaver’?
The British are hoping to “butter Trump up” with his state visit, but Theresa May is poorly positioned to gain concessions from the US president on any issue, Bambery claimed.
“The problem May has is that she’s out the door once this state visit is finished. Trump is talking to a cadaver.”
Even if she wasn’t days away from leaving Downing Street, May and Trump just don’t mesh well, Coburn contended.
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“[May] is obviously not on [Trump’s] wavelength,” the Scottish politician said. “Trump is popular with a good number of people in the UK, as you can see by the victory of the Brexit Party.”
Coburn, who joined Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, said his party’s leader is much more in tune with the US president. “I think Britain is moving in the same direction as the United States, in terms of policy, economics and trade,” he told RT, adding that May is probably doing everything she can to prevent Trump from meeting with Farage or Boris Johnson, a top candidate to replace her as prime minister.
Pumping the ‘special relationship’
Notably, Trump’s state visit has revealed the true nature of the US-UK “special relationship” – a concept which the US president is exploiting with great success, said Bambery.
“The ‘special relationship’ here is basically that the British do what the Americans say. It doesn’t imply that they are equals,” he stated.
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