Great opinion column by the “Times”.
But confusion from YouGov polling, which was either rigged or covertly altered by showing 2/3 unfavorable of Trump, but shown on U.S. TV as over 50% favorable --- just don't square
I loved the DUMP TRUMP balloon of him on a toilet, since over the past year, in which I have used my same two-sided sign which simply reads on one side,
DUMP
EMPEROR
TRUMP
and, more importantly, on the other side, under an image of ‘our’ American flag,
“We can’t be an EMPIRE”
The DUMP EMPEROR TRUMP message is becoming far more noticeable at democracy candidate events, such as Bernie’s and Beto’s primary appearances in Rollinsford and Dover New Hampshire over the past two weeks — along with demonstrations in Portsmouth NH and Portland Maine.
1
Some entities are eliminating identification of mass murderers. I suggest they eliminate coverage of the reckless, erratic person in our White House.
3
Trump's hamhanded efforts to interfere in British politics, his thrusting his unelected, unappointed adult children into the spotlight, & his insults of the Duchess of Sussex & the Mayor of London should embarrass every American.
5
The sons of the British Royals served in the military, and in risky jobs. The royal sons of Trump?
6
The 2020 United States presidential election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 3, 2020,
Put a big red circle around this day and this time VOTE--PLEASE!
4
Elect a Republican, be ashamed of your nation.
Hasn't failed since '68, although it's especially true today.
4
Here's to the Queen and company for showing kind and classy hospitality to our lamentable head of state.
4
It seems that Mexico is not the biggest US trade partner.
2
I don't know. The Brits rolled out the red carpet and our Donald loved every moment. I guess that Great Britain isn't among those on today's "who is going to get tariffed" list.
The message is clear and received. Pucker up or I'll do something unimaginably immature.
Sad that too many Americans are not ashamed by now. Sad!
3
NYT sees negatives even where Trump did well in his UK visit.
Top positives from Trump's visit to Britain:
1) Trump discovered how funny Boris spoke .. not at all like those Russians he colluded with
2) Trump picked out his own birthday gift at Q's lab .. those flame guns should keep him busy, away from Twitter
3) Trump found a way to keep Pelosi away from harassing him .. if only he could get her to take that traffic roundabout
4) Trump showed us he can come up with ideas too .. with more creative insults for Khan
5) Trump "accidentally" stepped on CNN voice feed, spluttering the anchor .. for a brief while CNN sounded coherent
So trump is losing his schlock value. A next step is for the media to stop reporting about him and his crime syndicate.
3
Long live the queen.
1
The Clampett family at Buckingham Palace.
3
Europeans used to have a great friend in the US. Now they have a president who together with Russia wants to split and weaken Europe.
5
When I recently traveled to Italy and England I considered posing as a Canadian - I am so ashamed of this pathetic excuse for a human being, not-my-president. Contrast when I traveled in Ireland during the Obama administration - when the Irish people picked up on my American accent, they showered me with love and let their love for our wonderful President Obama be known. Will we ever recover?
8
Not quite. He has lost the ability to awe. Now he simply shocks.
3
Trump’s behavior is appalling. The fact that the GOP does nothing is even more disgusting. His diminishing of the office will have lasting effects. Our allies and standing in the world will be questioned now because the American people elected him and his party stands behind him. So what’s not to say that Americans will elect someone else who is just as bad or worse, in policy, behavior, norms and honesty? The damage he’s done is beyond belief.
6
Time again to thank Michigan, Pa., and Wisconsin.
Time again to curse the non-voters, the third party dreamers, and fake "independents" who look only at their wallets.
You did it; you really did it.
6
Mr. Trump represents the US - a sizable portion of the US population are behind him/his policies. Most/all of the Senators are behind him/his policies.
Like it or not, one must accept that this is how a sizable US civilization looks like!
So if you're looking for change - the Oval office perhaps is not the right place.
One must look in the mirror.
2
@Ram
Correction. Most/all of the REPUBLICAN Senators are behind him/ his policies.
This is not a president who represents the interests of ALL Americans -- that's part of the job.
Change is going to come.
And it's going to start in the Oval Office.
2
@Ram. DJT has an approval rating of MAYBE 45%, so a “sizeable” percentage of the population is not behind him. He just plays to his existing base & does not try to expand his “approval” numbers. And I might add that maybe Most REPUBLICAN senators senators are behind him, but that does not account for the entire Senate where there was a Democratic wave in 2018. And with his tariffs on Mexico there will be higher prices on many things, so DJT’s approval numbers will really tank!
1
How can you even state that “most/all” senators are behind his policies? Where did that “all” sneak in?
1
I think the article is right, but draws the wrong conclusion. I don't think he is largely viewed over here as the "President of the US". Rather a character from a reality TV show, who says crazy stuff for ratings, gets into loud mouthed feuds, gets onto the front pages of the tabloids etc. Trump is the king of reality tv. He has been put in another box. Nobody looks to Trump for leadership. Just as nobody looks to the stars of Wrestlemania for leadership. I don't actually believe this reflects that badly on the US and I am pretty confident that the next president who is a regular politician and not a reality tv star, will take over where Obama left off, and America will be viewed for what it is, the land that produces the most Nobel prize winners and the most outrageous shock jocks.
5
Where are we at on getting trumps taxes? for a man to loose as much money as he has I don’t want him mucking up what little I have left
1
I have not seem in ages such hate against an American President coming from an American newspaper. The political establishment has not boundaries, especially in relation to lack of taste and manners
Lack of taste and manners is the foundation of Donald Trump and it’s been that way since he imposed himself on NYC in the 80’s.
4
@James Salomon. Trump earned his hate, just as one must earn respect, which he has not received!
5
@James Salomon
Trump has no taste or manners; there's the problem. He does not comport himself with dignity befitting the leader of a great nation. He is apparently incapable of it.
5
What does this entire Trump family cabal know how to really do other than Tweet in the wee hours while hurling insults at perceived enemies!
Do any of these people know how to play a musical instrument; write a successful book, poem or play?......grow vegetables?...make jam?
It is as if the entire family, at one time or another, appear as effigies of real people since we cannot bear to have to see what may be the "real" people.
7
Individual-1 leaps from a National embarrassment to an International embarrassment without messing the floor.
4
Shame on the House of Windsor
1
For anyone over the age of 12 who is firmly grounded in reality, praising or ignoring the unending outrageous and bizarre behavior, tantrums, insults, lies and overall incivility of Donald Trump is impossible. Responses of disgust and mockery are the only remaining options.
A Yankee tip of the hat from across the pond to two-thirds of Britons, by the way
10
It seemed to me he had a pretty good visit over in the UK and the important thing is the DDAY recognition. Grow up people.
3
@David
Yeah, it would be fine if Trump and Co. were just on a private family holiday, but this useless excursion comes at taxpayer expense, produced nothing meaningful, and probably decreased the sense of goodwill the UK has toward the US.
How sad it is that so many Americans think that tact, manners, good breeding and presenting one's self with dignity are irrelevant.
12
@David
"Stone cold loser." Yeah, that was a good'un.
7
@David Grow up? Isn't that advice more properly addressed to Trump?
14
Our man Colludy J. McTreason! Make America Ashamed Always
5
How embarrassing and that’s putting it mildly. Just wondering if there is anyone in his staff that could have dressed him properly?
That tux didn’t fit! Also, the Queen might have insulted him by giving him a book.
5
Regarding American perceptions of how graciously Trump was received by the “Royals”, what many of you don’t realize is the ability of the British upper crust to be exquisitely polite as a way of showing contempt.
66
@Alison Cartwright
Read the comments again. Most of us saw very clearly the barely concealed disdain he encountered not only by the "Royals" (I think Camilla should get the prize!), but by the protesters who unlike he thought, didn't come out to lovingly welcome him to London.
14
@Alison Cartwright
I don't realize that at all about "British upper" using politeness to show contempt. Far from it; and certainly not part of the Queen whom I thought, from what I heard her say as her toast, provided the world a glimpse of what dignity and grace look like ... treating Trump as a human being in the honor goodwill. We do want Trump to be influenced by this in like fasion, right? To deny this begs, in my view, the question of how well regarded cynicism is ... probably to "play it safe," if not to "get even" with Trump. And we know by now how that goes.
@Alison Cartwright
Sort of like saying "Well, bless your heart!" in the American South.
7
I live for the Day when Melania breaks out in Song: “ Don’t Cry For Me, America “.
Please, I’m begging you.
5
It's good that he's lost his shock value. That was his main asset to get attention. He's a two-trick pony: insult rivals and critics, and lie, lie, lie. Most people I know don't care anymore. It's boring -- aka Trump's worst nightmare.
7
I cannot understand how our government goes along with Trump's inclusion of his adult children in our diplomatic affairs. WHY are we paying for that???
If it were not for the utterly worthless Repubs in Congress, we would be writing new laws to prevent any president from running the WH like it's his own crime family.
16
@Dissatisfied
But but but Ivanka really wanted to wear a hat!
6
Did the British government provide someone to translate from English into Russian so Trump could understand them?
5
The madness of King Donald the Dreadful.
10
lying is his favorite followed by cheese burgers and golf.
7
I.t would have been a clarifying, electrifying spectacle if the Queen flat out refused to host Mr. Donald J. Trump at a state dinner. The fact she acquiesced was awful to watch. It reminded me of Hitler brow beating Neville Chamberlain at Munich.
5
You can’t shock a people who ignore you.
3
Ugly. American.
7
Imagine our reaction should any foreign head of state come to US soil and diss politicians and lecture us on policy. Yet, this is OK behavior for trump...
What are his adult kids doing there other than getting a free vacation courtesy US taxpayers? What other president would be so crass as to include his kids and their spouses?
Is the UK our 52nd state after Canada?
8
I am reminded of when Congress invited Netanyahu to speak and he dissed the existing executive.
Something like that?
1
We really need a baby Trump blimp of our own here in the NYC. Think of one floating over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In fact, it would be lovely flying over any of our many NYC Parades. Hope you read this Mayor de Blasio!
14
@sashakl
I don't know about that. It's bad enough we have the real thing.
1
Nope. Definitely isn't the "American" president. Out that way you got North America and South America with loadsa different countries whose denizens are all American, not just those from the United States of part of North America.
Here the U.K is the United Kingdom, not the United Kingdom of Europe. If it was the United Kingdom of Europe then Theresa May could be described as the Prime Minister of Europe. But she still wouldn't be.
1
Glad the Trump's have finished drooling over the royal trappings and customs. They descended en masse because they think they are being honored because they deserve it. Clueless and desperate. I will personally devote my last 1/4 of life to make sure that "The" Trump family is disabused of any notions of American 'royalty' or power 'dynasty'. Whatever intimations of family royalty that were previously given to the Roosevelts, Kennedys or Bushes at least had some factual and patriotic backing from real wealth worked for to military service and duty to country.
The Trumps have never worked a honest day and offer no service to country at all. Self absorbed entitlement does not confer true respect. They will alas never understand that.
Fear remains as the Trump cult goes beyond a gold crown and now flirts with anointed by God and or Savior status. Trump wants both the earthly and heavenly titles. People such as Franklin Graham seem intent upon granting that wish.
Stop the madness now!
9
Mr. Trump’s take on the huge, loud anti Trump demonstrations all over London is interesting.
He had to have noticed the enormous protesting crowds with the signs, baby balloon and all and yet he saw and heard only cheers and outpourings of love and affection directed toward himself.
This same man put on that amazing head waiter costume for the state dinner with the Queen. (WHERE did he get it?) Checking himself in the mirror before he went off to dinner, he apparently saw a glamorously turned out Robert Redford looking admiringly back. Walking so proudly in that outfit beside the Queen, he looked to be living his dream come true.
Could it be that he’s having vision issues (cornea damage from looking directly at the sun during the eclipse) and possibly hearing problems? Facts aside, he hears what he wants. That could explain why he spends his time inside a world of his own. Or perhaps his advancing age, poor eating habits added to his general lack of things outside of himself are catching up with him?
8
Two years ago it was astounding that the the president of "the greatest nation on earth" was a TV cartoon character. By now the world is no longer surprised. In fact, in the English speaking world there seems to be an attempt to top each other with humorous Trump put downs.
4
Another day, another embarrassing spectacle from the POTUS.
Not just sad, but so tiresome.
17
"Come and listen to a story about a man named Don
A liar and a cheat, barely kept his family free.
Then one day he was standing with the Queen
Sounding like a fool and acting real mean .
Gall that is, full of it, truth free.
Well the first thing you know ol Don's a laughingstock ,
Kinfolk said “Don run away from there"
Said “Your base is the place you love to be"
So they loaded Air Force One and started to flee .
Clowns, that is. Politics, GOP.
The New York Hillbillies."
15
Thank you, British anti-Trump demonstrators! You expressed what we were all thinking about Trump’s visit to Britain. We will remember you with much more fondness than we will remember Trump.
11
There is only one thing I want to know- what is the cost of this trip to the American taxpayer? Oh, and BTW all of the other wasteful trips in his (actually "our") plane and his (also our) helicopter? I want to know, so he can reimburse us after he is thrown out of his job.
Only with the exception that "the base" will get none of the proceeds. They already got what they wanted.
Think of the state of the world since 'W" and then this guy took office. Problems in Europe, problems in the Middle East, in Africa, in Asia, in Central and South America. Even if you could buy a house in Antarctica, you still would be facing problems generated 10 thousand miles away. But not to worry- we're working on how to get people to Mars and back, just for the fun of it. And of course we get to plant an American flag there and take a picture of it. We'll just take it out of the Federal budget. The GOP's hands are always in the cookie jar, while they lecture the 99% about fiscal restraint.
Trump yearns for another get-together with Putin- one guy that he knows will give him a warm reception. As long as he "tows the line" and follows orders.
America has, like it or not, an enormous responsibility to the entire planet since we vaporized two cities in Japan and declared victory over fascism. Leadership is not a "maybe"- once you declare yourself a "superpower", you're stuck with it, more today than ever before. There's no going back- ever.
5
Dear World:
We need your help. Especially those of you in positions of influence. I'm addressing you, Your Majesty.
Although the Orange Blimp and Trump Tweeting on Toilet demonstrations were humorous (and accurate), the rest of the visit normalized the abnormal.
We need the Queen to do more than look glum. She can do things in response to his crudeness or lies like say, "You're really an odd and unpleasant little man, Mr. Trump."
Or the Prime Minister could turn toward him from her podium and say something like, "Well, that was both dishonest and remarkably crude, Mr. Trump."
Allowing this gaudy fraud in his ill-fitting costume to "salute" the troops, have High Tea with royalty and strut through London with his own "royal" family is civilizational malfeasance.
In normal times there is value in honoring the office of the Presidency, despite the occupant. These are not normal times. Giving Trump the benefit of his station is a farce. The office of the presidency has no honor when we allow this man to hold it.
21
@Barking Doggerel
Agreed. To my knowledge, Mayor Khan of London has been the only non-American world leader to have the guts to come out say what surely most of them (other than maybe Putin and Kim) are thinking.
5
@Occams razor You may be sure that Putin and Kim despise him as much as they find him useful, and this aside from Trump's being a clown. As Julius Caesar said, "I love treason, but I hate traitors."
2
@Barking Doggerel
Perfect politeness is a British way of showing contempt
1
I often wish the media would not "show up" one day, or during a press conference just turn their backs on the creep. Or on SHS during the daily press briefing. Just walk out. or throw rotten tomatoes. It is stooping to their level, but that is how they operate.
8
trump was quite frankly an unnecessary distraction during the lead up to D Day 75th commemorations and Brexit. P M May is stepping down so Trump should have canceled. Tax dollars funded Trump, his family; his aides, Mulvaney; Mnuchin; Louise Linton; plus Trump adult children and spouses. Neither the President nor Prime Minister can unilaterally negotiate trade. Arrival at D Day Portsmouth and Normandy observances should have sufficed. Please recap cost of this vanity junket.
9
Brits and Americans share a common history and they see the world in the same way. They have been a strong partner in all of America's endeavors. The behavior of the Brits in the face of DJT and his kiddies reflects that shared outlook on life. We think he's ridiculous. So do they.
6
I don't see anything "crude" about the balloons and the effigies; they're quite clever, impactful, news-grabbing. We should be doing a lot more clever mockery and less righteous crypto-puritanical rage. We should learn from the British and do a whole line of balloon effigies representing the various aspects of Trump's execrable character—Pinocchio Trump, Bandit Trump, Vulgarian Trump in ill-fitting white tie—and have them follow him around on the campaign trail. People who are undecided, maybe leaning toward voting for him again, will be far more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate if they see Trump so soundly derided than they will if he's the relentless subject of fire-and-brimstone speeches from campaign pulpits and editorial columns.
16
"He claimed that he had been greeted by “tremendous crowds of well-wishers” and that there was “great love all around.”
Trump created his own reality with his father's wealth and has never looked back. He keeps up the con since he knows he is ignorant and will never be accepted in higher circles but enjoys the company of criminals and other con men.
5
Obviously, POTUS would have had access to a professional tailor. Doubtless, his ill fitting formal wear is a shrewd calculation to fortify his image as an outsider looked down upon by privileged elites, a persona that the base relishes seeing.
4
Or he forgot to pack one.
1
Excellent Editorial.
As J.K. Rowling said of trump: "such a tiny, tiny, tiny, little man".
I hope trump is reading this. And trump, we hope you come back to the start of an impeachment inquiry by the US House of Representatives.
9
I'm British-born, with dual British and US citizenship. It's disgusting that this vulgar boor was invited and UK citizens, including my family, paid for his visit. Shame on the UK. It's bad enough that US taxpayers support him and his corrupt family.
24
@penny
After reading how much London police spent on Trump's security (estimated to be 14 - 18 million Pounds), you know exactly how those of us here in New York City feel every time he or his part of his clan turn up here.
15
Trump epitomizes all the things that can possibly go wrong with "leadership": he has made a huge statement about fashion: nothing fits above the waist and the girth of his pant's bottoms is hysterical. I am sure that is why the Queen has turned away. So she won't be seen laughing. To continue, his speeches are travesties: rude, out of place, overbearing and comical.
We sent a loser to London and the Brits certainly realize it. He is clearly the worst spokesman to have sent.
5
I recommend that Esquire article link about Trump's white-tie outfit. I almost died laughing; surely someone can help get him the help he needs!
6
Surely the British, with their Swiftian satirical tradition, can do better than the Trump balloon, a benign and even toothless lampoon. He is less an infant than Humpty Dumpty on his wall. And though a state visit, one of the royals should have upbraided him about his insulting comments on London's Mayor and Meghan Markle.
20
@Alan J. Shaw
If you take umbrage with the Trump balloon, then you surely missed the papier mache sculpture of him dressed in a school boy uniform sitting on a golden potty.
Rather Swiftian, don't you think???
Also. The royals didn't respond to those taunts because that would be a breach of protocol.
The same can't be said for Donald Trump.
8
@Alan J. Shaw--you criticize the Brits for not being witty or biting enough in their criticism of Trump.
Where is your criticism for an American Republican Senate which let's Trump do as he wishes, ignoring their job descriptions detailed in the Constitution?
Have you any criticism for how Trump's tariffs only hurt Americans, or how he's seeking to take advantage of a Brexit-weakened UK via a trade agreement that forces inferior and dangerous American food products into their market?
What have you to say about Trump trying to make the UK his, or his support of the break-up of the EU, as Putin wishes.
It's easy to take potshots from the comfort of ones computer. I am assuming you did not mark the huge demonstrations against Trump at Trafalgar Square or in front of Buckingham Palace.
I sincerely hope you will put your wishes for more anti-Trump demonstrations and actions to work in the next election, and actually leave your home, volunteer to phone bank or go door-to-door, and turn out the Democratic vote.
8
@Lilou If you read my comments on NY Times articles, I have condemned everything Trump has said and done along with the Republican party. I contribute to the Democratic Party and its candidates as well as the ACLU and have voted for Democrats, and yes, the Liberal Party in New York when it existed, in every election for the last 50 years. I admire those who do the same and are more "activist," than I am now able to be. I hope and trust that you, residing in Paris, are also an American citizen eligible and desirous to vote in US presidential elections.
2
I just checked the available numbers ( which could be wrong. I've been miscounted protesting for any number causes in my life.) and it seems that there were as many people protesting Trump in London as turned up for his inaugural.
A very small protest indeed.
2
Mr. Trump is an embarrassment. What are the Republican politicians who just stand by and let him get away with all his dirty work?
I find myself wondering if the "Grand Old Party" is trying to destroy our republic for $$$$$.
What is next?
Giving nukes to the government of the people who brought down the Twin towers is dialing for dollars at it's finest.
3
Yesterday, NPR interviewed some working class Brits who are big fans of DJT. It was shocking to hear why - their words were identical to the brainwashed Trumpsters in the US. They said that he was a person who " finally truly cared for and understood" the "little people" and the poor. Raising them up was his first priority. When asked about Trump's many transgressions, grifting and lies, their response was a flat "that is all lies and made up by the press. None of that is true." I was driving and was so shocked I had to pull over.
5
@btcpdx, this is sad and alarming. It's hard to fathom that there are still many people who believe Trump is going to help or save them and that all the facts are "lies" concocted by the media. This kind of ignorance is dangerous. Deeply unsettling.
1
Trump has redefined the "Ugly American".
8
I'm not much of an Anglophile, but I think it is beneath the Queen's pay grade to liaise with a crude reality TV personality. To think this queen once dealt with the likes of Winston Churchill.
5
@The Buddy
First of all. It's part of the job.
Secondly. She didn't exactly invite him to stay at Buckingham Palace, did she???
1
We have a president who acts as though he is above the law (and so far has shown that he can so act) has no respect for his political opponents (or allies for that matter, as his Republican tariff hating supporters should learn), shows no empathy for the struggles of other people or sense of decency and who is supported by some 40% of the American people. Right thinking Americans should be and are embarrassed by this awful travesty of man. That so many Americans continue to support him is a national disgrace.
7
Among all the other things, Trump told Prince Charles that the US had a "very clean climate." He can't really be so dumb, that he doesn't know the difference between climate and pollution? Yes, I guess he can. BTW, Prince Charles was unable to make a dent in Trump's climate crisis denial. For that alone, he should be impeached.
6
@willow, I can't imagine what Prince Charles must have been thinking.
3
Make America Good Again. Please.
5
Appease the child. Most people can be humbled, shamed and brought to size when called out on lies and for rude and unkind behavior, but not our president. Instead of bringing hope to the world by offering our largess to help others, he roils the world's destabilizing forces to height fear and distrust.
The Queen of England has served her country with her very soul. She had to dine and treat with respect with our big baby, the antithesis of her own character.
Trump's enablers in the White House and Senate, Miller, McConnell and Mulroney to name a few, are learning to be Trump. they now speak without censure.
Thanks to the Queen for her stiff upper lip but we can't keep taking it on the chin. He can't be sweet talked into being nice. The great big trade deal is not going to happen. He won't change. We have do more than complain while letting him off the hook. Stand up to this hellish world he creates with his ignorant behavior and sycophantic assistants. The future is not dark except when Trump is in control. His hard supporters will think of him as a vague moment of madness if the country begins again to dream big.
2
I consider the current president is doing exactly what those who voted for him wanted. He's throwing rocks through windows and breaking as many as possible while he's in office. That's exactly what he was sent there to do. He's representing the people who stand by him just as they are.
2
I enjoy the laughs at Donald's expense. It's tempting for us at home to follow Britain's example. But it's all too easy to confuse trolling and getting under his thin skin, with meaningful activism. I don't think there's any evidence that satire such as giant balloons becomes a useful force for good in influencing systems of governing.
2
I'm pretty sure that the very first time that Trump saw the US Constitution was during his UK trip, when Queen Elizabeth showed him a copy of it - which then he obviously didn't even bother to try to read, but just stared at, a hollow grin on his face.
What a despicable man.
9
The Brits very utterly lame and unmeasured with their protests. Some things are just too seriously wrong to be made fun of.
The oversized projected portrait of FDR , so much so that the frame is displaced as to offer more space to his visage, was a not so subtle counterpoint to the smallness of the current president. In sort he is dwarfed by FDR.
If you have ever visited the National Portrait Gallery in London, you understand the British are masters of this school and they did not disappoint this week.
5
It is both sad and disturbing that many have grown numb or indifferent to trumps behavior and that of other members of his administration. We have come to expect the crudity, the vulgarity, the lies, the insults, the distortions and his fake news. Trump may find that as the world trains itself to turn a deaf ear to him that if he ever has anything viable to say it will be like the boy who cried wolf one too many times.
6
The Queen deserves a fair bonus this year on top of her civil list, for having done her job all the same.
7
You continue to elevate him by addressing him and his behavior as if it were legal and normal NYT.
I am so close to unsubscribing and heading down to RJ Julia for some hardcovers.
NYT I think your leadership has had too many visits with trump.
And so far coverage of 2020 is a scary read in your paper cuz I keep hearing “ polls polls and more polls “showing only males leading as candidates. Your samples are too small and biased. Let’s decide .....voters ..!to read history and philosophy and geology and theology instead !...ourselves in book clubs. Let’s start by reading Mueller. ☝️🙏
5
@nurseJacki@ No, it has to be covered constantly. It's the NYT's contribution to gathering evidence. They don't "address him and his behavsiou as if it were legal and normal", they address his behaviour, period, by reporting it. He has to be watched at all times. And it's important how ricidulous he was, even in Britain. He probably even wanted to insult the Queen, but knew he couldn't go that far. It sounds like you want some 'fake news' too. Whoever is leading among the candidates is leading among the candidates; it has nothing to do with bias.
3
What an embarrassment. The Brits aren't stupid and clearly see through trump and his constant narcissistic need for attention, his total lack of intelligence, and his bumbling, ever-changing and dictator-worshipping foreign "policy."
Trump is a laughingstock everywhere he goes, but our British cousins do know how to quite humorously make that point ever so obvious to the rest of the world - to everyone but trump himself, it seems.
9
Please some psychological type tell me is it just narcissism or are we dealing with a deeper form of psychopathology
7
The con of Brexit, the con of our criminal-in-chief and the con of the GOP are the low bars that our two nations have embraced. It's sad and unacceptable that the two once world leading industrial, Democratic and brave countries have so many gullible, hateful and fearful people now. Both nations are being lead by cowards who avoid telling the truth to their people for their self-serving purposes. Globalism, greed, and exploitation have finally overwhelmed our sense of fairness while also putting the brakes on progressive thinking. England and America are not the future. Good job all of you gullible, amateur, media addicted fools.
2
I resent having my taxes spent on a disneyland to London trip for the Trump extended family so they can dress up and ogle the Queen. How many millions are these freeloaders costing us?
22
I’ll just take this opportunity to salute the royal family rather than comment on their boorish American guest. The royals, especially the Queen, comported themselves as they are trained to do, with dignity and class. Even Prince Harry turned up during the visit to Buckingham Palace, as a good royal is expected to do, while steering clear of photo ops with the man who called his wife Meghan “nasty.”
But Prince Charles’s wife Camilla, always an independent person, had the last laugh. While Prince Charles led Trump in to tea, an event he and Camilla were obligated to host, she turned around to the cameras following them and gave an unmistakable broad wink. That said it all to me about the royals’ real opinion of this President and his so-called state visit. That and the baby Trump blimp!
12
Let us face facts...the man is a clod. As one of your writers put it "taking his family to England was straight out of The Beverly Hillbillies". I made sure to tell my friends in England that I and my family did not vote for this doltish creature. He is not my representative and he never will be.
13
Any nation that hangs its hat on a deal with the world's most inept negotiator is doomed to a series of disappointments. Better the Euro you know than the clown you can't count on.
6
Awe??? The last descriptive word anyone could consider related to Donald Trump. Never!
4
Can’t wait till Trump is relegated to “the ash heap of history”.
9
Nearly everything that falls out of his mouth is cringe worthy. He started his trip by insulting a member of the royal family and then attacking the mayor of London on the flight over. He is the actual embodiment of the boorish ugly American.
Trump and his entourage deserve mockery. The abomination in the WH is an existential threat to our democracy.
8
Make America Great Britain Again. Please!
7
As I read through the various news articles and photo opts which highlight the boorish antics of the trump grifters, I keep imagining Maggie Smith and wondering what dry comments she would be making. It does give me a chuckle.
4
Ignore his outlandish comments, school yard braggadocio, and his crudeness. He was elected. His policies are the real cause of the hate directed at him even in a friendly country. Fair trade, protect the borders, defeat ISIS, help create a growing economy with tax cuts and de regulation. And, of course, his pro life and his anti the irrational gender mumbo jumbo. “Bruce” Jenner as sportswoman of the year comes to mind. It’s the policies that so anger the leftist, media, establishment. Media hegemony is threatened. And, they attack relentlessly.
You know, you really might try to get a little beyond your hatreds sometime. Maybe even read a real paper or a book Ann Coulter didn’t scrawl, kind of get a look at reality occasionally.
Otherwise, guys like me are likely to observe that you seem to’ve taken a bone spur exemption from the planet, where the economy didn’t start growing when Trump slithered into office, that ISIS is still very much around, that all Trump’s done at the southern border is make things worse, and that guys like you seem cheerful about sticking your kids with the bills for all those regulation cuts.
Take a breath, okay?
5
@Tim Dowd
Tell me this. Did the news ever reach Sicily about just HOW Trump was elected??
Here's a hint.
It wasn't by the MAJORITY of Americans.
5
The world has gone mad. That is 2 year old news.
1
'Two years ago, Mr. Trump’s outrageous comments and tweets while a guest on foreign soil — calling the London mayor a “stone cold loser,” ...'
That sentence is so convoluted that I'm not sure what it says. Regardless, Trump was still on Air Force One when he sent the tweet about the London mayor, so he certainly was not "on foreign soil".
Maybe the Times should hire a lucidity reader.
1
The Pope is drowning & Pres. Trump walks on water & saves him. The Times headlines the event with "Trump Can't Swim"
It may be fiction but it tells a true story, that Trump never gets a break from the MSM.
Isn't it amazing that the editorial Board noticed that Trump had an ill fitting tuxedo but missed the gorgeous First Lady. whose impeccable taste was beautifully displayed.We have never had a Flotus who could compare to her, yet she never gets a mention. Now that is hypocrisy.
1
@Elaine Coyle . Please detail what Mrs. Trump has done that makes her incomparable, besides wearing nice clothing and being gorgeous? I have nothing against her other than having had an affair with her now husband while he was still married, but don't understand why she is incomparable especially if you include First Ladies like Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, etc., who were actually educated, well spoken women. They weren't "gorgeous" enough?
5
@BethTo my knowledge. Melania did not have an affair with Trump, while he was married. That was Marla Maples. Do you have facts that prove this as the First Lady does not take kindly to slander. She has been known to sue for false statements.
It is difficult to evaluate as education from another country. Speaking five languages is an obvious accomplishment. I like to give immigrants a break. How about you?
FACE it, there are beautiful women who shine like Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Lena Horne & Melania. I call Michelle & Laura nice looking women but definitely not gorgeous.
I believe that the British, like most Americans, respect and honor the OFFICE of the President of the US but not its current occupant and that they are sympathetic with the embarrassment Americans feel at being represented by this grotesque and awful man.
8
I have been in Europe for the last month and have over another month to go. Getting sick and tired of having to explain and justify this abomination of a president to the rest of the world.
7
Trumps' visit to London reminds one of an epileptic on meth. When one has to applaud a president for mostly behaving himself, one knows the Country is in trouble.
6
what purpose does this visit to london serve other than a pathetic comedic sketch?
bad enough that it takes place at all.......but the troop of trump adult children at additional expense to american taxpayers?
why?
SNL fodder, perhaps?
4
Mr. Trump never inspired awe. His chief contributions to people's emotions are disgust and revulsion. If the world didn't mock him, the world would not be paying attention.
The royals trying to educate Trump about the significance of D-Day calls to mind one of Robert Heinlein's sayings: "Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig."
4
The Queen is a dab hand at dealing with autocrats, having dealt with the likes of Ceausescu, Amin and Mugabe to name just a few. Trump will end up in the dust bin of history sooner than later.
4
Trump creates his own fake news to cover his tracks.
4
The royal family is pure evil, with some scientists such as David Icke conjecturing that they may not even be fully human!
And for anyone who recalls how these reptilians treated Princess Diana, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.
So this visit makes sense to me. It was just one wicked man visiting with another wicked crew in Jolly Olde England.
The only light at the end of the tunnel (or should I say CHUNNEL?) is the coming victory of Jermey Corbyn to be PM and us getting Karmala Harris or Bernie Sanders over on this side of the pond.
Oh, and I have one word of caution if Princess Merkel is reading this column and the comments herein (the biracial one with Yankee roots) - “be careful Sister!” The Royal fam will chew you up and spit you out, just like they did with Princess Diana!!! Personally I think they just wanted the baby, to appear tolerant. They’ll probably discard the New Princess now that they have what they want. Pure evil! Worse than anything imagined in Game of Thrones when you really think about it!
What a disgrace trump is. He has made us a mockery around the world. Trump does not deserve the respect the royal family gave him, and it was obvious they only did so out of obligation to long time ally.
5
Science fiction come to life.
5
How far will Donald Trump push his 'base' before it acts and puts him away in a mental institution where he belongs?
4
One hundred years from now the stench of ineptitude and immorality will linger in the carpets and curtains of Buckingham Palace. What a travesty to allow this man to drag his boorish dime-store gangster persona through the halls there.
5
If you have to constantly lie about how unpopular you are, simply because you imagine that that's the best way to keep your "ratings" as high as possible, you're merely showing one thing: how utterly weak you are.
This is how all dictators govern - people often called "strongmen" by the media, but who in reality are so afraid of criticism and free debate and free access to proven facts that they need constant lies (and violence) to keep their ratings high.
A REAL strong leader is a leader who accepts to respect democracy, and to engage in real, respectful debates.
Corruption and propaganda have always been the refuge of deeply flawed, weak leaders - which is also, of course, why no president obtained LESS deals (both at home and abroad) than Trump during his first years in office.
What a scam.
179
@Ana Luisa
Trump’s insult to London’s Mayor is much more fitting of himself: “Stone-cold loser”.
25
@Ana Luisa It's hard for me to see a president who has totally transformed his Republican party into the party of Trump and who has a devoted, admiring base of support of nearly 40% of the American people, and who has bullied the Democratic opposition into cowering, feckless paralysis as weak. Mr. Trump is many awful things, but weak is not one of them. If he were weak, we could rid ourselves of him. But we can't.
2
@hark He is only still in power because of his base. These willfully ignorant people are either too proud to admit they made a mistake, or have not yet lost their trust in him. If and when they learn the truth about this corrupt, lying conman--or if the economy tanks in the near future--they will jump ship and turn on him. This is what Trump is most afraid of--loss of power and becoming insignificant and accountable.
17
I fear he has lowered our standards for all time...and baffled by the approval of his supporters of the diminished bar.
5
At least he wasn't invited to stay over at Buckingham Palace, as the Obamas were (they're not always; I think the Reagans stayed at Windsor, which is grander, but not the same prestige, I think.)
The most interesting thing, though, is that he pretended that huge protests didn't occur. He's done this before, as with the inauguration, but Pelosi (and Cohen and others) are right that he will be making up things about the vote in 2020 in order to refuse to leave the White House when not re-elected.
Bringing his children was tasteless beyond belief, and he is simply insane. So much more that 'just a crook'. And so much less than anything.
6
@Dr. Rocco Peters
I'm just eternally grateful to Speaker John Bercow that he declined to let Trump speak before the House of Commons. Obama did.
6
In the two plus year since he's been in office, Donald Trump has single handedly managed to sully the office he holds and the country he represents -- but the most amazing thing is he either doesn't notice this, or simply doesn't care.
And while it may come as a "relief" that he's almost expected to say, do, or tweet something offensive and ill-advised, that still doesn't make it any less of a national embarrassment.
6
The whole World is suffering from Trump fatigue. I wish news media would adopt a day of rest every seven days and do not report any Trump tweets or antics for that 24 hour period.
5
@Elizabeth If you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen. Nobody makes you read or hear about Trump. NYT and WaPo and much other media DO have to cover Trump's every move. I have no idea why people think that their 'fatigue' should be honoured.
2
The ill-fitting tuxedo is the perfect metaphor for the lack of dignity of Trump and his entourage.
9
Ironic that he who seemingly excelled at 'reality-based' TV programming has made and continues to make such a fool of himself on the world stage without even realizing it. Unfortunately, this form of entertainment is quite serious with dire consequences for all. The longer our Boor-In-Chief is in office, the worse things will get.
Vote.
7
That both in America and abroad, Trump continues to be normalized is a shocking commentary on the state of our democracy. The fact that we accept a man who has lied about something virtually every single day of his presidency and do not rise up against him raises serious questions about the state of our nation. We must begin to ask ourselves whether our democracy has become dormant, or perhaps it is already deceased and we don’t recognize it. How horrifying that thought is!
4
I am a bit surprised that no British politician scolded Trump for his blatant interference in British politics, his support of the sleazy Farage & Eton Boris. If the Prime Minister had involved herself in American politics in the same manner, the GOP would have been screaming hands off our elections you have no right blah blah blah. I was recently in Scotland & I did not meet a single person who was not horrified by Trumps crass behavior, his daily lies, & his ridiculous strong man pout. They all asked the same thing, how can anyone believe a word this man says. If the English believe "The phenomenal trade deal" they are a lot more gullible than I thought.
5
Sage advice for the President posted in response to his fashion fiasco in the U.K. Long ties, Tuxedos with the comical fit and those larger than life rack suits and slacks!
“My advice would be go on a diet, honestly,” he said. “It’s like Chris Christie. I can’t make the suit look good on Chris Christie, either.”
Ezra Lizio-Katzen
Menswear Boutique Ezra-Paul
4
'Two years ago, Mr. Trump’s outrageous comments and tweets while a guest on foreign soil — calling the London mayor a “stone cold loser,” ...'
The EB is tripping on its own rhetoric. As the linked article says, Trump was still on Air Force One when he sent the tweet about the London mayor.
1
If I were so unhappy as to find myself a Trumpist, I’d really stay just as far away from concepts like “accuracy,” and “truth,” as I possibly could. They remind people of how much your boy lies, and they might just leave the kind of mark that a crucifix leaves on your average vampire.
2
What the devil was Ivanka doing in Number 10 with Bolton? Why isn’t this meeting(?) being given more attention?
As for the upcoming D-Day memorial ceremony in Portsmouth, it’s possible Trump thinks it’s a party to celebrate Donald Day.
All in all, I am embarrassed to see our spoiled child pushing his weight around with world leaders, sneering his Mussolini jaw-set at his gracious hosts, as if he and his spawn are deserving of their respect.
6
@Maggie C.,the fact that Ivanka was there at all is shameful. Why is this tolerated? How on earth are these people qualified to "represent" the people of the United States?
Don't forget, though, that in the end you elected him. He represents you. Best regards from Padua (EU)
1
@Flavius
Don't forget, the MAJORITY of Americans didn't elect him and he doesn't represent ALL of us.
Best regards from New York City, we didn't vote for him either.
5
The president has become a buffoon and an embarrassment. They're just playing him now and getting out of him what they can. Fox New's alternative reality, too, has become a joke, as have the followers. Have the impeachment inquiry just to nail down the facts and let's be on with his departure next November 2020.
4
Trump's white tie outfit was hilarious. The giant pants and the too long vest made him even more ridiculous than his normal baggy suits do. Clearly, he thought the long vest would hide his girth, but it just called attention to his expansive middle, and when every other man there had a normal vest on, it just made his stand out ever more. This was absolutely the best part of his trip.
3
It is as if the cancelled show, The Apprentice, has gone into full scale global production. An assortment of characters vie for a fleeting grab at the brass ring while they willingly hang on to the ill-fitting coattails of a Made in America king. A king not made by skill or desire for perfection, but rather a hodgepodge of recycled parts that no longer drive the engine of our democracy. As structured as a green scene digitized to create a masterful illusion but remains, in all its projection, a work of fakery and fantasy. It is difficult to assume who is the greater fool, the Trump supporter or Trump himself. The great sadness and peril now attached to our country is not the loss of greatness, but the persistent lie that it never existed.
4
Casting aside the pomp and pageantry, the editorial neglects to mention both the passive aggressive gifts bestowed by Prime Minister May as well as the Queen's cheeky comments made during her speech at the banquet, aimed directly at the president. From the toffs at the palace to the punters in the streets, if there is one thing that can unite the (currently divided) United Kingdom, it's a hatred of Donald J Trump.
10
Trump never ceases to embarrass himself and our nation with his clueless self-absorption and never-ending buffoonery. But even Boris Johnson, a Brexit architect he much admires, got it right when he told a TV interviewer that Trump's "stupefying ignorance made him unfit to be president." An angry Trump will doubtless respond by calling him a "loser" or some other insult, but he can hardly make us believe that the thousands of Brits protesting his visit actually took to the streets to welcome him.
14
Is Trump ever bothered by the fact that none of the people kow-towing to him love or respect him and that they do so only because they either fear him or want things from him ? The notoriously cruel emperor Tiberius, when informed that his people hated him, said: " Let them hate me, just so long as they fear me ! " Is Trump satisfied to be that kind of ruler ? If so, I almost feel sorry for him.
7
British democracy should be proud of its citizens for demonstrating in large numbers against this deeply undemocratic president. British citizens have not forgotten the cruel tweets sent after the London terrorist attacks, his retweeting of a fake far right video and his incessant tweets interfering in Britain’s internal politics. Trump’s behavior in Scotland, where he has generally treated the wider communities around his golf course(s) as his vassals, has made him justly unpopular there.
Those, including some British Brexiteer politicians, who suggest that British citizens demonstrating against Donald Trump are showing a lack of respect for the Americans who died on D-day, seem to be forgetting that those soldiers were fighting for exactly the Democratic values that our current xenophobic and racist president has so completely rejected. I applaud them!
11
This was a revealing display of nepotism at its finest and most blatant - on both sides! All that was lacking at high tea was the Kim dynasty.
2
Let’s admit it. The numbers 1 and 7 do look pretty similar, even if you are a very stable genius.
He is a petulant man, not given to politeness and caution. But it is not clear to me how the constant attacks on him by you, and by the mayor of London is making him a "better man".
It takes two to tango and I have not seen much civility from you either.
Not to say that Trump's rudeness is your fault - not at all. He has always been a rude man. But I do not see you as helping.
How on earth did you get the impression that the NYT’s role is to help the president? Its role is to gather facts and report on them.
But, but, but Donald Trump said this was all fake news - in a press conference, standing next toTheresa May, at the podium, for the whole world to see and hear.
Our president.
8
The Conservative Party showed their true colors in celebrating Trump's--and his family's--visit. They were in charge of the visit and they demonstrated their subservience to power and money. Strangely, no one in the media here seemed to notice.
2
England can now collectively exhale: “Phew, glad that charade is over”.
Trump can go off and play-act at being a world statesman on some other stage now.
7
The biggest shock of all was his demand that the NHS be part of any trade agreement. And this statement came even after Theresa May explained to the dunce that NHS stood for the National Health Service.
After an outcry the dunce 'walked it back'. It seems he has one forward gear and 3 reverse -- which may be partly due to the bone spurs.
7
@Hamid Varzi I saw a clip of that moment when May explained to him what the NHS was. I think he still didn't know what it was; he was basically babbling that the NHS was on the table, everything was on the table - with no idea of what he was talking about.
1
Trump still has the ability to "shock" but he's never had the ability to genuinely "awe."
7
The outrage expressed in many of these responses speaks well for the readers of the NYT. At the same time, we might as well acknowledge that there is a strain of orneriness in the American character that causes many of our fellow citizens to enjoy the ill-treatment of foreigners, especially where royalty is concerned. These Americans are undoubtedly chuckling over Trump's intentionally crude behavior. Among this crowd, the president's reelection hopes just received a boost.
In this case, however, the British outdid Trump, especially in the appropriateness of their response. The two balloons accurately depicted his character, and some of the placards also made telling comments about him ("Make America Great Again. Impeach Me"; "Free Melania"). In the face of this barrage, his pathetic lies about trade and the attitude of the crowd toward him fell flat.
If we fail to retire this one-trick pony next year, we will confirm the world's opinion that the American people are crude barbarians.
7
It's hard to imagine that a draft dodger will attend the D-Day Commemoration. The connection and respect that President Roosevelt and Sir Churchill had for each other is something that the person in the White House just wouldn't get. Wherever he goes he rants and raves about fake news, guess he should know since he's a fake president. Weeks ago I mentioned in a comment that he personified the "Ugly American". I'd like to e-phrase that to, the "Ugliest American".
9
What you are seeing now is the real Trump--Trump unleashed---no adults left in the room with only a handful of middle school intellects to bring him cokes. I know a number of pundits say Trump is in a good position to win 2020--I think otherwise---except for this 30 or 40% base the remaining public is tired of this reality TV presidency.
5
Every time Trump goes overseas he is an embarrassment to America. His behavior suggests he enjoys wearing a sign on his back that reads "kick here."
4
Too much attention is spent on Trump's abhorrent behaviour.
Not nearly enough time is spent on explaining how his behaviour and policy choices hurt ordinary Americans.
7
They weren’t well wishers, they were wishing he were at the bottom of a well.
4
The Trump Family visit reminds me of the Griswalds in a surreal and very expensive version of National Lampoon’s “European Vacation”.
If Camilla’s wink is any indication, the Windows are turning lemons into a swimming pool of lemonade and having raucous time behind their guests’ backs.
4
I guess this spectacle of a pre-visit trumptrum will be the norm until this boor can be shown the door.
The Britain: Don't fret - the pendulum will swing the other way. There will be a presentable leader of the US in 2021.
3
This man is a loser, a fraud and an embarrassment to our nation and to the world. Since a lot of people cannot or do not have time to read editorial such as this one, we need to show all the embarrassing moments of this visit to the UK and the subsequent ones in Ireland and France on all TV networks, and that includes the Fox News megaphone, to prove to the American Nation that they have indeed elected a corrupt, inept and dangerous man to be president of the USA on 2016. Our allies can't wait for 2020 and frankly a lot of us her cannot either. When is this nightmare going to end?
5
Trump is angling to take advantage of a country which foolishly voted to leave Europe based on not wanting to be a team player, primarily in refusing to take their quota of immigrants.
They have been quite happy to take loans from the EU, however. Now, to exit, they must pay them back -- fast.
Further, while the EU is quite willing to take the UK back, under its former terms, the UK wants to "cherry pick" it's conditions of EU membership, that is, keep trade and loans flowing, but refuse to abide by other EU regulations.
In the process, they've dug an economic hole for themselves, one that Trump is determined to take advantage of.
He's been dying for a country that will accept U.S. chlorine-washed chicken and antibiotic and/or hormonally injected beef and pork. Somewhere that will consume the high fructose corn syrup in our foods and beverages, where our inferior fake cheese and glyphosate-laden wines can be sold.
Somewhere he can build another Trump Tower, and help money launderers and tax evaders flourish via real estate and British banks.
He is imminently and deservingly mockable as the most erratic, cruel and conscienceless leader of a now un-free U.S.
The UK should not allow itself to be preyed upon by this avaricious, selfish man and his do-nothing Congress. They should turn deaf ears to his lies -- they should not let his foot in their door.
They need to buck up and rejoin the UK, where they will fare far better.
2
Such class. To think all of this embarrassment could be avoided if just one person close to the president would tie his shoes together before he starts down a flight of steps.
1
Unfortunately, the man has no class and a dubious pedigree. Trump and a Windsor have little in common
I can only imagine what Queen Elizabeth was thinking.
2
During the 2016 campaign, many of us feared that this outrageous creature would be "normalized", that we would grow so accustomed to his style of leadership - if you could say that - that in office his behavior would become the new presidential normal. It has happened. Even internationally. Observe evil -Ignore - delete - observe evil - ignore - delete. This is a tragedy of epic proportions.
1
What might have also been said is that many people did not attend the protest because they took the alternative view, that of ignoring the Narcissist in Chief. That's certainly what I did!
3
The Trumpist catastrophe we face daily is a struggle for the survival of our democracy that goes far, far beyond the liberal/conservative divide. We all knew who Trump was before he was elected, an ignorant racist, sexual predator, bigot and lying fraud. Electoral issues and Russian interference aside, it is the Republicans, the Lindsey Grahams and Mitch McConnells, their ultra-right wing donors, and the Fox/Breitbart propaganda machines that have opened up this festering sore we call Trumpism.
Trump ignores the Constitution in his effort to be the dictator of his dreams, He has made a mockery of every federal agency under his incompetent administration. Despite his gross behavior, despite his inhuman treatment of immigrant families, despite his destabilizing trade tariff wars, despite his menacing threats of a groundless war with Iran, despite his destruction of the reputation of the United States around the globe, he receives the adulation of 40% of the voters in this country. Trump embodies their hatred of immigrants, people of color and the so-called "liberal elite".
What will it take to put an end to this gut-wrenching nightmare we face with every news day? Americans who truly care about the future of our country must unite and vote out this scourge we call the Republican Party that has truly lost its way.
6
@Jefflz - is there truly a United States of America? Seems the blue states are subsidizing the red states, who in turn hate the blue states, who resent supporting the red states, etc., etc.
Maybe it's time to break up into the two camps you have anyway - think both sides would be happier that way!
1
Trump needs to be invited to more state visits. Only so the world can know what New Yorkers have always known — that he is a fraud and a joke.
The ill-fitting suit, the mouth-breathing as he reads a prepared speech with no emotion whatsoever, the nap that he took while the Queen spoke, the misspelled tweets, the lies about the protesters, being shut of a ride in the golden courage and a bed in Buckingham palace, the only one celebrating the end of WW2 with zero medals, the two princes opting out of a photo op, Melania’s dour face, ad infinitum.
Donald is an utter embarrassment. Just ask the First Lady/Third Wife.
6
Bravo for the Brits! Why can't we protest him like that??
4
Trump’s crazy. Just that. Crazy.
Not “crazy as a fox”, although it might well be true that some twisted part of his absurd and infantile psyche might want to believe — and want you to accept — the idea that his delusional behavior is part of a “too clever by half” negotiating tactic in some overarching strategy. Pretend to be the madman to obtain concessions, that sort of thing. It isn’t.
He’s unhinged. Self-deluded and mentally ill. A danger to himself and the entire world. And he can neither be fixed nor changed.
Despite all that, and the increasingly dismal picture he presents as time goes on, much of the Republican rank-&-file — perhaps 35% of American voters — seem fine with it: “it” being Trump’s increasingly impulsive, bizarre and erratic behavior. Republican leaders should stand as a last bulwark and emergency brake on his increasingly wild ride towards oblivion. We know that they see and understand the situation because many privately say as much. But, to a man and woman, they seem unfazed by it, or gelded and neutered. Many are openly obsequious and, frankly, simply too craven to ring down the curtain, something they could do in an hour. The House indicts (impeaches) Trump and the Senate tries and quickly convicts hm; end of story. Instead, they hide behind Congress’ opaque walls, cower within its shadows of silence, abdicating their responsibilities to the American people and the nation as a whole — out of self-interest.
To keep their jobs.
6
"The speaker of the House of Commons would not allow him to address Parliament,"
That's too bad. As I understand it, MPs make their feelings be known in no uncertain terms.
Maybe that's why he wasn't invited.
1
Thank goodness we can comment on these articles. Reading others' comments and being able to add my own seems like the only way to maintain some sense of sanity in the face of this man's horrific behavior. 2020 can't come soon enough.
4
It is arguably one of the advantages of a Parliamentary system with a constitutional monarchy or President, that the head of state and the head of the executive branch are separate. The former represents the permanent essence of the nation, the latter its short term political foibles. Trump is welcomed in Britain according the customs and norms of a system that recognizes the difference. That is the extent of it. Were he not nominally the leader of what is becoming the increasingly less free world, no ceremony would be made of his coming.
D-Day commemorations have long been stops of sitting presidents on their election campaigns. Remember Reagan, and his visit to Ireland? To his roots? Not one senior Catholic bishop was there to greet him. That the UK government and monarchy made themselves tools of Trump's re-election tells us about their own shaky condition. British commentators are already writing that this has all made a vassal state of the UK. But that has been true for decades, with England termed an American aircraft carrier. And no, Trump didn't storm the UK: he washed up like the outflow of a burst sewer pipe.
5
After watching an unflappable Queen Elizabeth treating Donald Trump with such courtesy and grace, while outside, crowds gathered in protest and a diapered Trump balloon flew overhead, and as her guest continued to insult the Mayor of London, CNN and others, I began to wonder if the U. S. had dispensed with royalty too quickly. There is something reassuring about a figurehead who is above it all . Three cheers for the Queen...I admire her greatly.
12
We’ve been very lucky to have her for so long (she became monarch shortly before I was born).
But she won’t be around much longer and they’re not all as good.
5
@Jane: They have a figurehead and 19th C democracy--a bit like America's democracy.
When Marine LePen came to Canada, not one single politician from any political party agreed to meet her.
In the case of your president, two leaders of opposition parties including Labor declined to have lunch with him.
But what surprised me the most is that the Speaker of the House of Commons also declined. I wonder if there is a precedent for so much overt hostility for the leader of democratic nation.
As for those Brits that dream of a special relationship with the US,just look at how Trumps treats his neighbors.
10
Believe me when I tell you that Trump certainly has not lost his ability to shock and awe. His visit to the UK included several very shocking incidents.
His blatant interference in the pre-election campaigning for the leadership in support of Boris Johnson would not be tolerated in the US , nor would his insulting behavior towards elected officials.
The exclusion of the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, the third most important government official after the Prime Minister, from the guest list for the State Banquet was obviously at the President's request.
I could go on but what is the point. Trump never stops behaving in the most outrageous and shocking manner. When we stop being shocked then we really are in trouble!
9
@RHR
Unfortunately many Americans, including leaders of the majority, seem not to have a problem with Putin’s interference in our elections.
6
@RHR, I hate to contradict, but Americans do tolerate foreign interference in their elections.
Covert interference in our electoral process aside, by Russians or anyone else, I remember seeing Netanyahu invited to address a joint session of Congress in order to attack a sitting president during a presidential campaign.
Not only did Americans tolerate it, he got many standing ovations in Congress as he did it.
1
Well, we may not be comfortable with our president being mocked, but wouldn't it be weirder if we were the only ones who saw him for who he really was and everyone else continued to treat him with the usual respect and dignity his position generally holds? As it is, the fact that Republican leadership still stands by their man, Evangelical leaders continue to support Trump, and his base has not shrunk, makes one feel like we are living in some sort of 'alternative universe'. Maybe we should actually be grateful that the truth of who he is has become so apparent that most of the world recognizes him for who he is and who he is not, that is a competent leader for the free world, our nation, any business, and/or even of a family. The New Testament discusses what the early church leaders should be like, qualifications, and character. Trump is none of these stated traits and Republicans once said, when Clinton was being impeached that values count, morality is important in leaders. How can they turn a blind eye to someone who attacks and bullies anyone who has a difference of opinion with him? How can they rationalize his appointing conservative judges as worth the corruption, slander, and unethical behavior in this president ? God help us, as only He can, if they fail to recognize the error of their ways. Trump not only prefers authoritarians, he wants to be one. His instincts are that of a dictator, attacking the free press, our democratic institutions, even the rule of law.
311
@GraceNeeded
An alternative reality sums it up for me. I've been so shocked daily by his words and deeds that my head is spinning. Tell me I'm in an episode of the "Twilight Zone" because that would be preferable to the present day nightmare known as the "Donald."
15
@GraceNeeded
I watched a PBS documentary series called "The Dictator's Playbook." It sent chills down my spine
as it laid out what is presently happening in our world.
The episodes on Franco & Mussolini were especially disturbing...not to mention Kim, the patriarch of the psychopathic ruling dynasty. This documentary should be required "reading" in history curriculums in middle school; children need to understand the mechanisms of manipulation and tyranny as they are our future citizen/voters.
You can watch the series on youtube.
9
@GraceNeeded "Maybe we should actually be grateful that the truth of who he is has become so apparent that most of the world recognizes him for who he is..." Yes, but if that is the case I would hope world leaders would not treat him to pomp and circumstance that just feeds his ego.
9
I really believe that those in the Royal family in England, namely: the Queen, her son, and her grandsons, saw the importance of the significance of the 75th. anniversary of the commemoration of D Day, that they would try to educate, an uneducable man, DT, and shower his family with decency, and dignity. It probably didn't have the intended outcome, but many of us who were well read, and educated people, knew over 2 decades ago, that DT was that kind of person.
200
@MaryKayKlassen
The Royal Family had no choice - a state visit is within the gift of the UK's prime minister.
No doubt the Queen will smile and hold her nose.
13
@CSadler…I asked the people that I met in Trafalgar Square, yesterday, about the timing of this visit as I thought this is such a sensitive and personal time for the UK; so, I asked, 'Why now?' Why couldn't they wait until after the the future of this country in relation to the rest of Europe is clear or at least clearer. I am not sure that those who wish to leave find that their argument is bolstered by Mr. Trump—otherwise, why would Boris Johnson not try for a photo op?
I found so many of the protesters to be very well informed—they were much more up on family separation, the fear of the start of nuclear war, even chlorine rinsed chicken! Many spoke of the condemnation of professional standards in journalism being denigrated by a silly phrase that he thinks has power but actually is like a tire losing it's tread. Your Queen has lived through a lot and she is so much more worldly…and Mrs. May is as they say in the article a 'lame duck'. I respect what this country is going through. But, these 'back benchers' from across the Atlantic should stand down.
7
@CSadler Note that the Queen must have a truly ironic sense of humor. To gift a first addition of Churchill's history to a man who maybe never read a book and has show over and over again that he has no interest in history really is truly ironic.
15
Once again Trump mistakes the red carpet as rolled out for him (personally) as opposed to him as the supposed symbol of all this country stands for. The spectacle of his grown children accompanying him as though it were a family vacation - at our expense - further reinforces the strange surrealness of the last few days. Please free us all from this political nightmare!
504
@pkidd
I don't think I have seen a person less self aware as Trump. I'm sure that the royal hospitality he was shown he believed to be out of affection for him and a confirmation of the job he is doing.
34
@pkidd
Whom are you pleading with to free us?
We need to act ourselves.
Vote and be prepared to defend that vote with your presence when needed.
32
@pkidd National Lampoon's European Vacation
16
Could you imagine what we would be hearing had President Obama gone to the UK and sent nasty tweets about a sitting mayor to herald his arrival?! If Obama had been so boorish as Trump, Republicans would remark on a lot more than the president’s tariff policy...
343
@NM
Imagine IF President Obama had imposed tariffs to bypass Congrease.
2
@NM And remember how the Republicans were so shocked that Obama wore a tan suit? And now we have their finest wearing *a horribly fitted suit to meet the queen*!?!? Not a peep of, course, from the right. What a disgrace to our country the president and the Republican party are.
4
The president has embarrassed the United States beyond measure. Beyond that, what more is there to say? Most Americans are not proud of him of his forced representation of our country, either at home or abroad. He has ruined the presidency and has distinguished himself by his utter incompetence and his ignorance and his usurpation of the dignity of an office once thought to be the world's most prestigious.
Other than that, he's doing a fine job.
332
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Yes, I still trust that most Americans are mortified by his uncouth behavior. For that matter, I believe that most Americans would be indignant if any foreign leader visiting the US behaved the way Trump did while traveling...
72
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
Yes he is doing that just fine- he made, is making America great again and will continue to make America great again. What dud you say? But this is not great? Change your definition of great- earlier definitions are all fake and false and not American English!
12
@Sad Sack
First, America IS and has been for more than a century now GREAT. Second, Individual-1 is doing nothing to further America’ Greatness.
1
A flashback. The 2011 state dinner with President Obama and Michelle. Class all the way.
It's really quite sad to read this editorial, we have so lowered our place in the world with this President. And I'm not sure we'll see times like 2011 again.
386
What makes Trump's show at the state dinner all the more egregious is how it has devalued the entire history of pomp and circumstance. If that buffoon can be so honored, then the occasion has been slighted and made ordinary for anyone who has ever been or will ever be so feted.
The British monarchy has lost another battle to stay relevant.
11
Trump is so clueless about people that aren’t himself, he perceived that he was met with ‘great love.’ But that was just civility! Of course, manners are so unknown to him, Trump perceives basic decency as admiration of him.
403
@NM That is a trait that is common among US citizens. It's a very common especially within management circles. Basic decency is perceived as weakness and capitulation. Or, in the minds of narcissist dimwits as admiration of the leader. I can't believe they are so oblivious of reality.
13
@NM And woe to those that miss the ROYAL British Snark that is thinly veiled by the pomp and circumstance.
Make no mistake, in Europe Trump is viewed as an imbecile. Rightly so.
4
I have to admit I LIVE for the ad libs when he deviates from his prepared speech (and who writes his speeches?). I can't stand to watch his entire speech, but I don't have to, as the ad libs provide glorious fodder for comedians.
We had President Obama attend the basketball game in Toronto a couple of days ago - he received a standing ovation from the crowd with shouts of MVP, and perhaps that stands for Most Valuable President? Such a class act, followed by such a crass act.
772
@mariamsaunders What can one say? We are a nation of extremes, and at the moment things are extremely bad here. The real test is whether we can bounce back after these grim times.
37
@mariamsaunders…I am going to try and share this on a site that loves 44. You brought tears to my eyes…tears to think how lucky we were to have such a dignified and intelligent leader. By comparison…Obama looks better and better each day of this Administration—45 is adding to Obama's upward trajectory.
Thank you!
35
@mariamsaunders
Class to crass! Excellent.
25
Count me as an American who will never accept this mannerless, mindless man and his equally rude family to be 'the new normal'. It is deeply humiliating, and it is deeply upsetting. It can't be over soon enough, and I pray daily that it will come to an end with our democracy intact and our reputation rebuildable.
1102
@kglen
I'm with you. This Trump "presidency" is such a Walpurgisnacht of idiots and scoundrels I can't believe I'm living in the U.S. I never would have guessed that our system was so broken that a lifelong scoundrel like Trump could have even been a serious candidate.
He exploited the concatenation of a broken Electoral College, a craven Republican party, and the sociopathic media manipulators of Fox. Yes. But most shocking to me is the revelation of how many fellow Americans are gullible fools, racist haters, conspiracy theorists, and outright paranoids. This is what was festering in our country while we fatuously believed that Obama was the wave of the future.
And then we export our shame to Britain, sowing his usual discord, spewing crude insults to London's mayor and to a new mother. Britain needs Trump and his odious spawn capering around and roiling the country like it needs another wave of Mad Cow.
549
@Trista
Thank you for this absolutely precise and astute appraisal of Trump and Co. and his truly awful family. If one could be a fly on the wall at Buckingham Palace after this visit, I am quite sure that a version of what you have written (possibly even more scathing) is what one would hear.
71
@kglen Yes "it can't be over soon enough". Trump took his entire loyal entourage to visit the Queen. Someone in the Times here seems to be promoting the Trump family as the 'new' Kennedy like family. And it seems very likely that Ivanka actually believes she could be our first woman POTUS. She is attending security meetings as the resident airhead. The thought that 62 million Americans thought that Trump was the man is the most disturbing news to me.
Our current leadership is awash with trash.
81
He might be president of the USA but he has destroyed all respect for that office. What is more dramatic is that so many Americans think he is a worthy president. The Brits have no illusions, not does anyone else, but good manners towards visitors, even if they are unworthy people, remain appropriate outside of the USA.
14
Perhaps Trump has fathomed that the US, despite its current state of decline, will not tolerate a Kim style dictatorship. But, we might be willing to go for the more genteel form modeled by Her Royal Majesty. He can probably get tips from Farage about how to manage the transition. Plus, we'd all get a cool British accent. His Majesty King Donald. Really has a ring to it. You may begin bowing and scraping. Just remember, when you leave the room, you are not allowed to turn your back on the monarch! For a quick review, Downton Abbey is available on video.
@Susan: Which "British" accents are cool? Scots? NI? Cockney? Liverpool? Aberystwyth?
In these times of fires, floods, and pestilence I am glad to see my boy Donald still providing entertaining fodder for the media and, this week, for the Brits on the street.
3
Thus far, at any rate, Canada has successfully defended itself against Trump’s ‘shock & awe’ by letting him know that should he try to visit here he would be accorded a healthy dose of our justifiably famous ‘politeness’ by our government but that this would hardly mask the complete distaste Canadians feel for this worst case of the Ugly American of the modern era.
10
Trump is very different from normal politics, for America or anywhere else.
However, British politics is today very far from normal too. Their two major parties were both crushed in the latest nationwide election, and the winner was a party that didn't exist until four months ago. The single issue of Brexit has taken all the political oxygen for three years, to the exclusion of even considering any other issues.
That is true of much of the Continent too.
Even Trump's best friend Israel has just failed to form a government, and is re-doing its entire election.
Trump is a symptom of larger things. He isn't cause. He's symbol.
Centering this on partisan disgust with Trump is dangerous, because it fails to see what actually matters. That is what is causing all of this chaos across the Western world. It isn't all because we elected Trump by a very narrow margin over two years ago.
Politics is failing voters.
Globalization betrayed its promises.
The tech revolution is turning on us, 1984-style.
Neo-liberal economics is now a threat to the average voter, not a promise of better.
Classic foreign policy has produced only multiplying wars, and is losing all of them too, at vast expense, and pain for everyone involved.
There are really big problems. Real problems. Politicians everywhere are doing their very best to avoid seeing them, because they have no answers they'd offer.
Our pundits then must see them, and force the issues to be seen.
16
Mr Trump disparages news as "fake" but lives in a twilight zone of his own altered reality. Looking at his life and history, I think he and his family have lived so since he was born. He has no sense of himself other than that image he himself creates. There is nothing real about the real Donald Trump. He made it all up.
11
"... the same giant orange balloon of Mr. Trump ..."
Britain has produced some of the world's greatest satirists, yet the balloon is still "the same". Couldn't the British Trump-bashers create a NEW caricature?
It works!
1
What you can rely on anytime, anywhere is that Trump will lie and lie. This visit to London was no exception. His statement that there were cheering crowds who greeted him on his way to visit the Queen was debunked by video footage of his arrival at the palace. His statement that the thousands who protested his visit was "fake news" was his own fake news. Isn't it sad that we've all become so accustomed to his lies that many people just let his statements go by unchallenged and say: Oh that's just Trump!
8
@ Jimmy Dee
Thank you, Jimmy! This Texan (whose grandparents left SC for TX after generations stretching back to colonial days) has delightful cousins back there who surely agree with you.
"...mockery of the American president..."
Excuse me, but the United States (of part of North ) America does not own all the countries in both North and South America.
A Canadian has the right to call themselves an American, as does an Argentinian, but in my experience they respectfully just describe themselves as Canadian or Argentinian, rather than claiming the whole lot.
4
Regardless of anything else, his NHS faux pas, and subsequent step back, revealed a lot about the trickery and/or ignorance of the man. He talks about Britain as if it is the USA's next state. (And if it becomes its serf, long live an independent Scotland.)
3
Considering the sorry state of British and US politics right now, my favorite comment about the Trump visit is one which many have heard before but I share it anyway. From writers of the movie "As good as it gets" ; Go sell crazy somewhere else; we're all stocked up here.
4
Why Mnuchin, Ivanka and Jared were there is bewildering unless it's because she is supposed to be an advisor but so far all her advise seems to fall on deaf ears and Jared came right out and said he is not to be trusted and Mnuchin is breaking the law daily for trump.
10
Trump is definitely like a relative that you would not invite to thanksgiving, because he would only ruin the celebration of gratitude. I remember the series on John Adams. Remember how he went to London, after the establishment of the US Republic, and groveled before the king who looked on with the look of someone having to put something in a plastic bag walking his dog. What a lot of people in the US do not fully realise is the widespread deep dismay amongst those who are not US citizens, and it’s all around the world.It’s more than sad. There is a lack of appreciation of how much damage he is doing to the world reputation of the US. Most of the rest of the world do not see the very good things that occur in the US every day. His actions are spoiling in a massive way.
10
i watched a report filed by Richard Engel on MSNBC that juxtaposed president Trump's comments about the warm welcome, thousands of supporters and small demonstrations he observed with what was actually observed by reality-based people on the scene. To paraphrase Mr. Engel, there is something deeply disturbing about Mr. Trump's persistent attempts to create his own "reality'. Of course, reports of coverage of anti-Trump demonstrations were derided by Trump as "fake news".
To what extent does Mr. Trump actually believe his delusional declarations? To what extent are these demonstrable lies just manufactured for appearances? These are serious questions which the U.S. and the rest of the planet cease worrying about at their peril.
15
The American president was treated by the queen and the royals like royalty and he reciprocated appropriately. British need to know that Trump was not elected by them to be president of Britain and to dance to their tunes and their expectations. Trump manages his communications on his own terms. You are nasty to him, he will reciprocate. You are nice to him, he will reciprocate in kind. Apart from that British need to keep an open mind about Trump and to recognize the good, bad and ugly about Trump and judge him overall with regard to the state of the Union of US and the state of the world.
Whether you want to give Trump, credit for the good that has happened is up to each one of us, but in my humble opinion the US and the world is a better place than it was before Trump took office and the world is heading towards less violence, fewer useless armed conflicts, safer travels and cleaner environment. Yes Mr. Trump stormed London and D-Day landing sites in his characteristic manner and with his own style and his brand of Trumpism. Somethings will never change whether 2/3rd of the British population dislikes him or hates him or fails to appreciate the good that has happened in the world and in the US during his presidency. He is certainly a unique president and will leave his own stamp in the world. He is not Obama, he is not Bush, he is not Clinton, he is different but he could be judged by history aas the right US president for the times and under the current world order.
2
@Girish Kotwal
It's nice to know, I guess, that in our country it's possible to live in your own fantasy world. As to how history and the rest of the world views the current occupant of the White House, you may be disappointed.
2
There is hardly anyone left in Europe who would take Trump seriously. Europe seems to have resigned to shrugging off whatever lie or insult comes from this weird creature´s mouth.
We do take the USA seriously, though, and are still baffled about the fact that something like Trump could happen. My own idea about (and my sentiments towards) the USA have changed fundamentally. The grown awareness that there are many in the US who support Trump´s divisive politics and don´t seem to care about his lies etc etc may even be a long needed wake-up call for us. We do see the US in a more differentiating way now. We do see the splits and cracks that exist and we are less naive, more critical and probably more mature in our attitude towards our good friends across the pond.
At the same time we are united with many in the US in the hope that 2020 will bring back some measure of sanity. Until then, any of Trump´s visits to Europe, including his incoherent babbling, insulting and lying, will be considered irrelevant - and shrugged off by most.
8
It's good to know that sensibilities can travel leaving me to spend as much, if not more time wincing and grimacing watching Trump and his family gate crash London as I do automatically seeing him in front of national landmarks.
Perhaps the difference was having to cope with the entire traveling circus at once preening and mimicking the gentle, but anachronistic, trappings of royalty, badly. I'm waiting for the usual people, meaning Fox and Friends, to start nattering about the ways that the whole cheesy and presumptuous presentation was "classy" showing their own cluelessness.
3
There is no comfort in realizing that Britain is no longer shocked at Trump’s behavior and expects to simply have to endure the discomfort of his visit.That means that his outrageous statements have lost their edge, that people accept that his insults are part of his definition of the U.S.presidency.His behavior offends many of us and although we expect it we never, ever accept it.Trump expects to wear everyone down with lies and bullying and his blatant self serving behavior-this must not happen.We cannot lose our souls because Trump has none.We must remain at the barricades defending our Constitution,our American Values.The British did not have as many protestors as before but their inflatables and signs demonstrated a lot of originality!
6
Has America ever had a more controversial, ignorant and narcissistic president than Donald Trump? We've watched and listened to him on his State Visit to England since Monday. Great pomp and circumstance, pageantry, ceremonies, meeting, greeting the Queen and her family. Teas and dinners, a feast for the senses of people over the world.
Mr. Trump didn't see crowds of protesters ("fake news") in London, just as he didn't see the U.S.S. John S. Cain destroyer on duty in Japan during his summit with Shinzo Abe last month. The great ship, a reminder of Trump's loathing of Sen. McCain over the years, was hustled out of his view by his people. We saw the protests in London, though Trump was kept "inside", away from them and the trump blimps. All he saw was "love from all the people".
Today, the leaders of 15 other countries who joined the U.S. in ending World War II on D-Day, 1944, will hear the words of our President and Queen Elizabeth II (and President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Prime Minister Theresa May of UK) speaking and commemorating the beginning of the end of the Second World War during the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
The people of the U.S. -- whose immense losses of blood and family in Europe from 1933 -1945 -- are remembered by millions of families the world over. We join in sorrow with old people of all countries whose lives were changed forever by World War II in the 20th Century.
10
@Nan Socolow: Commemorations of D-Day are justified but overplayed. Part of the problem of European politics is that current populations do not relate to Hitler's war, and there's not a lot of votes in trumpeting his defeat. Former East Germans are likely to think of themselves as ex-Commies who defeated Hitler. West Germans think they've taken enough heat for Hitler. In the UK, Dad's Army isn't funny anymore, and Iraq smarts a lot more than Dunkirk or Mons. Europe has had a long period of peace, and the people tend to forget how they got that peace.
1
Both the UK and US have been quite shattered by toxic lies and misrepresentations promulgated to devastating effect by social media. I can't abide Zuckerberg, though I know he is hardly alone in these evils. Both Trump and Brexit have been the consequences. UK manufacturing jobs dropped over 40% in one recent month thanks to the threat of Brexit. I see England being hollowed out and the prominence of conspicuously dishonest politicians such as Farage and Johnson signalling utter social decay. Meanwhile the US sails along with a humming economy fuelled by a burgeoning tsunami of debt that will surely sink the country. These are dark days indeed for us all, and surely there can be no safe haven anywhere when the US giant finally falls: Trump's biggest bankruptcy of all.
8
If there’s ever a need for a book that’s the opposite of dale carnegie’s “how to win friends and influence people” we all know which person to pick to write it - and no ghost writer will be required.
Sure to be a worst seller.
13
"The quips and tweets made news, of course, but the shock value was gone, and much of the coverage focused happily on the Downton Abbey theater that the British royal family does so well. "
Trump probably enhances the British sense of superiority: "Look how much the colonies have degenerated since separating from us".
12
@Charlesbalpha: No. Wealth was always the source of English nobility--wealth taken by force or by theft. Big business in the UK admires Trump.
@Charlesbalpha==Clearly, Trump and the Republicans have proved what the British think. We are embarrassed everyday that he continues to ???"lead" us.
1
Trump doesn’t make us Brits feel superior. We have May as pm and Corbyn opposing her.
1
Trump may have inured the world, and us, to his constant attention-grabbing antics, but that doesn’t mean the deficit is decreasing or that NK is not building nukes or that manufacturing jobs are not coming back.
Still, we should be happy that the visit passed off reasonably well.
5
Trump was perfectly appropriate throughout the visit and the press conference with PM was both moving and entertaining. This morning he read FDR's prayer for the soldiers participating in D-Day and captured the moment with restraint, reverence and eloquence.
Throughout he was at his most presidential and most importantly solidified the bond with our most important ally. He let them know that the United States would be there to help when the United Kingdom separates itself from the continent. A very successful trip.
6
@Dougal E
How would you like it if a European leader came to the US and encouraged the Southern States to break away from the North, enticing them with trade deals? Trump's interference in European affairs has made enemies in both the UK and Europe. Presidental my foot, the man is crass and a stumbling disaster for US diplomacy.
11
@Dougal E You forgot to mention that he insulted the Duchess of Sussex and then lied about it, and he was tweeting insults at the Mayor of London as his plane approached the UK. And while leaders of many countries gather for the somber occasion of remembering 18 and 19 year old Allied soldiers facing bullets and cannons on the beaches of Normandy, our so-called "president" was tweeting insults at Bette Middler. Only in a Trump apologist's mind was this trip anything other than a horrifying embarrassment to this country.
8
@Dougal E
In contrast with every other place and every other time? Only trump gets praise for acting mostly normal (for a change).
PS. He was still lying and still delusional. Those crowds were not cheering him.
6
There is a very fine line between lambasting Mr. Trump as a person and pillorying the office of the Presidency or the United States which placed him there. The greatest tragedy of this administration is how easy it has become for many to write off the US as a whole because of Mr. Trump.
Leaders like Abe, Xinping, MBS, Orban, Macron and Kim have all learned the value of faux sycophancy. Throw a big parade and gush over Donald and your country can get almost anything it wants.
We need to remove this confidence man from office and return our nation to a position with some international respect.
32
@Douglas McNeill Yes it is a very fine line. It is rightfully breached because we have allowed this to come about and for two years have done nothing decisive about Trump's pageantry at home as the polls dictate the direction of the country, keeping the Trump travesty/tragedy in place.
15
@Potter===yes, it is tragic for all of us and perhaps too late.
2
@Potter: Yes, we have--we elected an honorable House and a lot of great women. We need the Senate--but McConnell will be hard to displace.
2
Trump's trip to Britain was an extended family vacation paid for by the U.S taxpayers. The State dinner with the Queen was the Trump equivalent of a Disney character dining experience where Ivanka and the other kids could dress up and interact with the Queen and her court.
What will be the outcomes of Trump's substantive meetings with Teresa May and her government that has three days left? Do I even need to ask?
83
The size of Trump’s entourage, including his children and his White House inner circle, is staggering. Experts suggest that the British have spent eighteen million pounds on security alone.
Every time Trump travels a C-17 cargo plane flies ahead, transporting Marine One, his customized limousine, and assorted security vehicles. Factor in the cost of accommodating dozens of secret service agents.
All this pomp and ceremony so that Trump’s family and inner circle can network with British royals, the remnants of an archaic tradition. What is the Queen thinking? Is this her tacit way of supporting Brexit, by celebrating shared values with a nationalist US President?
Two summits with Kim Jong-Un, conducted at great expense to add luster to Trump’s brand, but which achieved very little.
Trump has imported his private business practices to the White House, an institution he callously exploits to benefit his family. Tariffs augment the revenue stream to the US Treasury, which he plunders to support his extravagant travels and lifestyle.
Meanwhile, millions are struggling in the UK and the US. Let them eat halibut and lamb.
The best part of the state visit was the acerbic wit on display of the British protesters, who best their US counterparts in the quality of their political satire. The inimitable Trump baby balloon with its hyperbolic pompadour, shaggy eyebrows and scowl, and tiny petulant mouth perfectly embody the man’s character.
The British are very good at some things.
99
@Andrew Shin
Regarding your 'What is the Queen thinking' question: Be clear the Queen has no part in this, and just does what the Government asks her to do. She represents the Sovereign, but does not personally have any power. Her duty as a person is one of service, to represent as a figurehead, the sovereign state.
She has met with many, many unsavoury characters, frequently on state visits. I am sure she does not enjoy it, but she endures it with great grace, because that is her job. In her Coronation speech she vowed to dedicate her whole life to serve her people, and she has done exactly that. She is deeply respected in the UK, even by those of republican persuasion.
42
@Hectoria
I stand corrected.
But does the Queen not retain veto power, especially given her age, to simply say no on this occasion and pass royal responsibility to Charlie, even while retaining the symbolic authority of the Crown?
With whom did the idea of this state visit originate? Theresa May? The Cabinet? Parliament? I doubt it. It is more likely the result of the backroom machinations of Brexiteers like Johnson and Farage.
The Queen, Charles, and Camilla fell permanently out of our family’s favor because of the way they treated Diana, an individual whose charitable works bestowed her with an incandescent glow and whose presence we still miss. Harry, more than any other member of the Royal Family, has inherited and cultivated this charisma.
Many of us across the pond do not regard royalty the way you do. Perhaps that is why America has become what it has while the United Kingdom has lost its place in the world and seems headed backwards.
I was quite pleased when the Canadian government chose to grace the new ten-dollar bill with an image of Viola Desmond, which accompanies the Queen’s visage on the twenty-dollar bill.
And yes, I am a dual American and Canadian citizen, having resided in the US for thirty years and Canada for twenty.
I choose to live in Canada—for now.
I donated to Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign. She comports herself like Samoan royalty.
3
@Andrew Shin
The Queen did not invite Trump in any real sense - State visits are within the gift of the UK prime minister.
So whatever the Queen is thinking, she will hold her nose and shake his hand.
8
I live in London and went to the protest. Despite intermittent rain the crowds were jolly and friendly in their determination to show this President what the British think of hiim. I thought it disappointing but predictable that the only moment of aggression and conflict I witnessed was around the two pro Trumpers wearing MAGA hats. It seems wherever his followers go they sow discord and it came across as cheap attention seeking....just like their leader.
128
My wife and I are spending a month in London. Our anecdotal observation is that while many people here don’t like Trump, even loathe him, most aren’t paying him any mind at all.
33
A lot of us Brits, me included, aren’t fans of Trump but opposed the demonstrations and the boycotts of the dinner etc. Like it or not he’s the president, elected by the American people and as such should be treated with respect, just as we’d expect to US to respect whoever we elected as prime minister.
15
Most of us didn’t vote for him and we appreciate the solidarity against him from the U.K.
20
@Iain Clark
He was not elected by the American people, but squeaked into office due to a Constitutional quirk. As for respect, he forfeited it long ago.
6
@Iain Clark It is decent of you to suggest that any American president deserves respect, but as an American, you have the permission of many of us to disrespect a man who is a bully and an embarrassment.
6
I just hope he doesn't ruin the D-Day celebration. I guess if he manages to behave there, it would count as an accomplishment.
44
@Mark B
I expect Trump to edify us with something like, "Not many people know this but the United States and Britain were fighting on the same side during WWII."
13
@Mark B
Yes, a draft dodging coward representing the US at a D-Day celebration really says a lot about this country and its lack of values.
1
@Mark B
I just hope it rains so he’ll stay away.
2
Bush was considered just as bad by Europeans in his time but Trump has lowered the bar... it's now underground. And they keep coming. It seems to be a uniquely American and perhaps Italian thing to elect these kinds of people.
61
@Jacques
The British may join that club if Boris Johnson ascends to the Prime Minister-ship, although un-elected, but by default.
3
@Tel: Unelected? What does that mean? PMs are elected by the House of Commons, not by the people. First, BoJo would need to be elected leader of the Tories by the Tories... then his name goes to the Commons.
Trump's visits to the UK remind me of those sci-fi disaster movies where the arriving alien ship casts a dark looming shadow over Earth.
I live about 100 miles from London but I really think I can feel his negative presence while he's here; worse this time because he's brought his family.
I went to a local demo on Monday where speaker after speaker listed the various groups whose rights are being restricted by Trump, the enrichment of the already wealthy, continued climate change denial by Trump and his fossil fuel donors, and how his right wing rhetoric is infecting Europe's politics and discourse. It's not fake news; many people here really do hate him enough to protest.
The Trump cloud will lift from the UK when Air Force One takes off but please, help remove Trump's shadow from us once and for all by voting him and the GOP out in 2020.
190
@katy890---Thank you for your comment and we will try our best to do what you suggest in your final sentence.
16
@katy890 It is encouraging to know so many in the UK dislike our current President. Watching the protests on TV, along with the flying Baby Blimp , the signs and placards gives me gratitude towards our British brothers and sisters.
Of course over here it's Trump 24/7, an exhausting day to day reality and many sleepless nights. His constant pandering to his beloved, immovable base is where the U.S. is right now, in the gutter. How we will rise from that sewer is the big question.
8
@katy890
tump will be removed from the public favor after an impeachment inquiry exposes his crimes in detail and he will be removed from the White House on Nov. 3, 2020.
4
How does a state visit between UK and US happen? I have always been under the impression it was because the sitting government in the UK wants the President invited, although I guess given our superpower status if we wanted/needed a state visit, US would tell someone and UK would comply (hey, I've seen Love Actually).
What possible good can it do either the UK govt or the Royal Family (who I believe do what they are told to do) to receive this man? What in the world are his children doing there? Did I pay for their inclusion as an American taxpayer?
Maybe I misunderstood his remarks about a post-Brexit trade treaty and his insistence that the NHS "be on the table" in such discussions. Where does he get off interfering in their domestic arrangements like that? What can the NHS possibly have to do with trade?
61
@Charlotte K
It happens because state visits are within the gift of the UK prime minister and she was desperate to buy some goodwill from the US and distract from brexit. Was there a state visit in Love Actually - thought that was just a straightforward visit from your Pres with no Royal Family involvement.
It hasn't done the UK any good at all, but Trump and his family get a one-off opportunity where everyone pretends to respect them. Yes, you paid for the US first family but we got stuck paying £30m for hosting them as well. Trump is hugely unpopular here.
& since we have the state NHS, there would be quite a lot of money to be made by US medical and/or pharmaceutical companies if they were allowed to push into UK medical provision
30
Both Trump and N. Farage are heavily supported by Putin, as are all European fascists. Putin is the winner in all of this!
1
"It may come as something of a relief that Mr. Trump’s behavior is increasingly familiar to America’s allies, and so not cause for scandal. But there is nothing to celebrate when mockery of the American president in a friendly capital has become the new normal."
Yeah, but Trump is able to do all this because of the 40-million strong cult of followers who are hooked on their hourly dose of "Fix News" blabber and fake Limbaugh and Hannity indignation over how "liberals" are chipping away at America's 'greatness'.
109
One thing is certain about the UK after Brexit , and Trump proves it: by leaving the EU and getting closer to the USA, the UK will become more like the USA and less like Europe.
Trump is projecting to push for the National Health care to be dismantled. Sold to the best bidder. Fake like him of course. British politicians are denying, by pretending to be offended, but it looks like an exemple of what will happen to the British people .
They will have the same kind of life ( or no life ) as in the USA .
49
@JPH
I basically agree, - but I do wonder if Trump even had an idea who or what the NHS is.
44
The support for the NHS is immense and it is born of experience. In my case it has saved my life twice, the first when I fractured my skull, the second when I had stomach cancer. In both cases the treatment was wonderful. Cost to me of hospital, specialist, GP, nursing, aftercare, drugs etc?
You already know ZERO. Can Trump offer a better deal?
Sure he can!!
9
@wolfgang: Even after Theresa May leaned over to helpfully inform him (twice!) that NHS stood for "National Health Service," Trump still seemed like he had no idea what it was.
PR, TV and (international) money bought Trump the presidency and thus, the power to bestow unearned responsibility, influence and arrogance on completely unworthy family members and cronies, who proceeded to prance around Buckingham Palace as if they had actually done something to deserve the welcome. For those in England, the majority of Americans humbly apologize for the intrusion.
102
As Queen Elizabeth gave tours of her home, I can only imagine the thought bubbles emanating from her and Trump’s heads. Trump is probably more marble, crystal. And gold leaf were need. Her Majesty was hoping her guests wouldn’t steal her blind when she turned her back.
27
or perhaps, just perhaps, Mr Trump is proudly representing the real America? Could it be?
9
I’m not American, and do not live there but I am baffled at this belief that the “real” America is one of ignorance, trumpeted, parochialism, nepotism, corruption and incoherence, universally despised. Do you truly think so little of your own nation? Surprising.
To me, and many others, the “real” America is welcoming and has grown great on that welcome, has taken in the best in the world, no matter their background, and brought out the best in them and for all its faults and dark history and present of racism, Christian fundamentalism, and imperialism, at least believes in transcending all of that. Which is more than can be said for much of the rest of the world- particularly Trump’s admired buddies in China, Russia, North Korea and Hungary.
11
@mf
No, it couldn't. The real America did not elect him as their leader.
2
@mf
He is hugely unpopular in the UK so I really hope that his version of the US is not the "real America".
2
I agree with pretty much every word in this editorial BUT it can't be denied that this visit will probably prove beneficial for the UK, at least in the short-term. When Britain leaves the EU as I personally hope they will by the end of October, they WILL be looking for increased trade to flow between our 2 countries, that's an absolute fact. So while Boris Johnson certainly doesn't represent MY values any more than Trump does, in the world of "realpolitik" stroking the massive ego of our charlatan-president by throwing all the pomp at him which is loves more than life itself is good for Britain, as much as they would like to deny it. After 2020 we can talk again but until then.....
3
Do you seriously think that Trump will give the UK a better deal than what they already have as a member of the EU? Besides the fact that having a deal with Trump's USA doesn't mean a thing anymore.
72
If the U.K. leaves the EU there is no conceivable trade deal with the US that could replicate or replace the benefits it has as a member of the EU. The U.K. will be lessened no matter what deal the US decided to make with it. Does anyone really believe that such a deal won’t be on the terms dictated by the US? Does anyone believe that Mr MAGA is going to offer the U.K., a supplicant, a good deal when one witnesses how he has treated Canada and Mexico?
Trump has already indicated that he wants to go after the health and agricultural sectors in the U.K. So NHS privatisation.Drug costs in the U.K., currently much lower than the US, to soar in the interests of the Pharma giants’ profits but not the seriously ill. Medicine for profit on a much greater scale than currently exists in the U.K. US agricultural produce admitted, produced under lower standards than the EU allows at present, which includes the use of veterinary products currently banned in the EU because they endanger consumer health.
The rest of the world used to look to the US as the leader in so many areas of regulation based on good science and good policy making but so much in the US has been sold off in the interests of private profit and not the public good. The FAA now outsourced to Boeing. The EPA now run by political appointees who are scions of dirty industry. The list is endless. Trump is just a symptom. But the US does have, in fairness, the best politicians money can buy. And they stay bought.
54
@ManhattanWilliam but what will the US sell to Britain to replace fruit and vegetables from the EU or stylish clothes from Italy or any of the many goods involved in what had been cross channel trade. In fact the Brits will still buy from Europe, but possibly with a tariff and so will pay more for the same.
Brexit was a terrible idea, and the original vote was a ploy by Conservative to quash a bad idea but they guessed wrong.
16
I would like to take a moment to give props to Queen Elizabeth for knowing how to participate in a photo opp while making subtly clear that you detest the person next to you.
I would also like to point out how humiliating it is to us as a country that the entire Trump clan crashed a diplomatic event just to play dress up and pretend to be American royalty for a day. So pathetic.
473
@JKR I didn't observe that Queen Eliz did what you said she did -- subtly show contempt for Mr. Trump. But if I missed something & am wrong, I am happy to be wrong.
Of course, I don't know, but I like to think that if I were a Brit, I'd be furious at My Queen for being seen and photographed with Mr. Trump at all.
58
His ridiculous tweets aside, I thought Trump was gracious and even presidential, at least in all the videos I saw.
I leave it to the experts at the editorial board of this paper to pick apart all of Trump’s statements and his “sorely ill fitted” clothes.
I also think it’s a sign of disrespect, not only to this president, but to our country, that the Brits make a mockery of our president with the “baby” Trump balloons. We wouldn’t stand for it if they did this to any other American leader.
12
@Steven Roth
'We wouldn’t stand for it if they did this to any other American leader.' ... thanks, that is precisely the point: Trump is not 'any other', and the citizens of another countries have no responsibility to give him respect Yes, he was 'legally elected' thru the vagaries of our election system and a bad campaign by Hilary. However, from that point forward he has shown that he is neither intellectually, emotionally, or spiritually a leader ... During this 'special' visit he tweets infant insults at the London mayor or Bette Midler. Behave that way, don't expect respectful treatment, can't have it both ways. He will be gone in 20 months, then the various fed, state, and local charges against him will become his life.
83
@Steven Roth Actually other presidents have been protested and "disrespected" in the past. And what do you mean we wouldn't stand for it? Should we cut off relations or something because of protests? How unAmerican.
20
@Steven Roth
I believe that respect is something that is earned, not bestowed upon anyone; Trump's actions and language (mostly lies) has more than earned the high level of disrespect he now emjoys in multiple countries...
361
Trump abroad is a 21st Century version of The Ugly American (even without the ridiculous suit he wore in England).
118
Of course a Socialist country is going to dislike our capitalistic President.
Your comments on Trump’s “ill fitting” tux are a low blow though.... even for the Times.
7
@Kerby. The U.K. is not a Socialist country. That’s plainly untrue as anyone knows whose actually been there.
123
@Kerby
I think it’s more that the U.K. dislikes a crude, preposterous blabbermouth insulting everyone around the world and lying every time he opens his mouth.
And hey, it’s not wrong to point out that someone who displays no class in his words or actions also makes a mockery of dressing for a state function. It just completes the picture.
4
The U.K. a socialist country? This will come as a great surprise to the shareholders of all the privatised public utilities, and the U.K. public as well. Have you travelled to any EU state? None of them are socialist. None.
The U.K. is a capitalist democracy and largely social democratic. Virtually the entire of the democratic industrialised world is as well. And,outside of the US, the citizens of most democracies can discuss capitalism, socialism and communism in a relatively educated fashion with some understanding. Socialism is not used as a bogey word in a “reds under the bed” unthinking propagandistic style.
The U.K. is, by most standards, a freer society than the US. Most people can aspire to a good education and good health access without fearing personal bankruptcy. Of course the U.K. is changing. The Tory Government are aping the US and beginning to impoverish their middle class. Expect more income inequality and greater unfairness and extremes. Just like in the US. Gosh, capitalism is so wonderful.
6
He would never have had the chance to mortify us all so thoroughly had the Republicans had one sane candidate among them. Their best is ungodly awful. It's become a pathetic, useless party.
118
@Kathy There were plenty of sane candidates (at least Jeb Bush and John Kasich) . Those who made the choice were the ones who lacked sanity, or decency.
3
@Ann Thank you for the correction; I'd forgotten about John Kasich. Jeb Bush may not be crazy but he helped steal the 2000 election. I'm mad at the whole party for its blind greed, and at most of the people who voted for him.
2
He's an insufferable boar. Yes I mean the animal. His family entourage, pigs with lipstick. The absolute epitome of ugly Americans, slopping at the undeserved trough, the highest office in the land, and all the immense privilege that goes with.
371
@Fromjersey. Well said.
12
@Fromjersey Well, really, that's unfair to pigs, which are quite intelligent. Probably better behaved, too.
2
THE UGLY(EST) AMERICAN.
119
Message to all Americans - please keep your crazy President home. He is disruptive, ignorant and embarrassing.
192
@Lily. Sorry, but the only break we get from his madness is when we induce him to leave the country and others deal with him.
89
@Lily
Lily, emphatically agree with the sentiment, but stew in the frustration of having absolutely no say, no influence, no control over the US president. I dearly wish I had the power to do as you suggest as I wish Congress had the power to perform its constitutional duties. Somehow it doesn’t seem to.
40
@Lily
Yes, but our only hope is that he'll leave, get lost and never find his way home!
To be fair, he gets deservedly mocked here, too. He’s just too stupid to realize it.
135
Remember what Carl Lewis, one of the few athletes who have won 9 Olympic gold medals, said during the London games in 2012 referring to Mitt Romney:
"Seriously, some Americans just shouldn't leave the country".
That goes double for Donald Trump!
100
@Robert Coane one way to ensure this would be his incarceration in prison.
4
@Ralph
Even better in his case and worse than a life sentence would be for him to suffer a devastating, massive, humiliating, crushing defeat in 2020 – a fate worse than death.. Why spare him the rebuke thru impeachment?
I'm with Nancy! – NO IMPEACHMENT. Public shunning would be best.
“I don't suffer fools, and I like to see fools suffer.”
~ FLORENCE KING
(1936 - 2016)
U.S. author, journalist and misanthrope;
royalist; conservative lesbian feminist.
2
It is not the Office of President the British protest against, it is the current incumbent that some of us are taking aim at.
Trump's swipe at our health service was predictable. His neo-con cronies are eagerly waiting in the wings to destroy our already wounded NHS.
The Baby Balloon was attacked and deflated by a Trump supporter during protests.
51
@Applecounty Too bad they couldn't deflate Trump.
1
The destruction of the President is deeply desired around the world.
43
All that pomp and circumstance. Just looking at the ornate room where the formal dinner was held filled me with awe.
All for Donald Trump. Honestly, he has to wake up each day and pinch his cheeks to make sure he is not dreaming. How is it that a womanizer, a liar, a cheater, a racist, a failed businessman who has claimed bankruptcy six times and has lost over $1.7 billion dollars over ten years is the president of the United States?
How on earth has this happened? I envision the Frontline documentary in a few years detailing the perfect political storm that was in place that allowed this shallow and incurious man to ascend to the most powerful position in the world. Will the country recover from his presidency I wonder?
270
@Len: Talk to your fellow Pennsylvanians. We New Yorkers stood firm against him, knowing full well what he is after having spent so many decades with him in our midst.
16
@Len, I believe he became President as a result of the following factors (in no particular order): voter apathy, voter suppression, racism, misogyny, extreme gerrymandering, unlimited dark money in politics, lies of FOX News and other right-wing media outlets, etc., etc.
18
Easy. There are tens of millions of Americans who have the same values and to aspire to the same sleazy lifestyle.
5
I am sure that when the "official invitation" was made, it was never even considered to specify that this is just for you and your wife. What a horror show having the rest of the Clampits come along for the ride. Nouveaux riches, parvenues of the lowest order. Money, even if borrowed from Deutsche Bank (and with little chance of being repaid , will never buy any class.
Just a gross act and an embarrassment for all of us.
373
@Tim exactly! It's so sad how trashy this family is -- they aspire to be like royalty without the faintest clue of how classless they appear.
157
@Tim In your comparison you insult the Clampetts. They may not have been the brightest folks, but they at least were (albeit fictional) human beings, with some empathy and more than a little common sense. The Trump family fits the show's portrayal of the other Beverly Hills characters: privileged, shallow, and bigoted.
20
@JKR: Even amongst New York's proletarian "swells," the Trumps were always regarded as vulgar parvenus.
13
Wherever I go, whoever I interact with, this former marine never misses the opportunity to express my complete disgust with Trump. He's an embarrassment, a disgrace.
I continue to serve my country by asking every person I meet to register to vote and engaging them to protect our democracy.
My republican senators may have forgotten their duty, but not me or my family.
410
@Jimmy Dee
I hope there are millions more of people like you out there, but I fear that there aren't enough to throw Trump out. And then there is voter suppression and gerrymandering in your neck of the woods to contend with.
24
@Jimmy Dee When I witness fellow vets applauding 45 or see him hug our flag I am truly sickened... How any vets or folks with any commonsense can support him and his dismal administration is beyond me...
15
@Jimmy Dee Thank you for your service to our country.
14
When the Brits mock, they MOCK.
Ever look at a video of the House of Commons? Anything more unlike our own staid House of Representatives--
--could not be imagined.
There are clips of Ms. Thatcher (oh--eons ago) bringing down the House with exquisitely timed mockery of some blundering adversary.
And hey! Remember Mr. Millard Fillmore--not one of our really distinguished presidents?
While in Britain, he was invited to visit Oxford University and take an honorary degree. But he demurred.
"Seems inappropriate," he replied, "to receive a degree written in a language (i.e. Latin) I cannot understand."
So modest! But not his real reason.
His real reason was: the inveterate tendency of university undergraduates to PEPPER some visiting dignitary with unceasing and unsparing MOCKERY.
They would, he thought, have a field day with my unusual first name.
All this to say--
--YOU GO, BRITS! YOU GO!
All these little barbs flung at the rotund figure of our scowling Commander in Chief--
--to a man approaching seventy, they're like repeated doses of Geritol. Meaning no offense. But of course--
--maybe someday we'll have a President like Mr. Trump's predecessor--
--a President we could all be proud of.
Maybe in 2021--
--who knows?
36
I wonder if the love, the adoring London crowds gave him, matches the spine tingling, dreamy eyed feeling he gets when he meets Kim.
20
They laughed in his face at the UN.
They jeer and protest him openly in London, and they are an ally.
Nobody fears the US, they are just worried about what it will or will not do because US foreign policy (commerce, military - you name it) is completely and utterly random.
And under his watch, the immigration problem in this country has blossomed into a crisis. It is worse than ever.
The deficit is skyrocketing and wages have shown only a little growth.
He has accomplished nothing on healthcare because, as he put it, "nobody knew healthcare was this complicated"?
Companies are still moving jobs offshore, and some, like GM and Harley Davidson, in embarrassing fashion to the President.
And he has disrespected our military - those fallen in battle, the deceased and the living.
And he has attempted to undermine any institution (the FBI, our intelligence agencies, Congress, the Fed) that makes him look bad or like an idiot.
Thanks for Making America Great Again Mr. President!
You were even better at this than building and running casinos, running beauty pageants, running real estate get rich quick scams and Trump University...
Who knew!
100
@T Mo
Just a minor addition; "You were even better at this than building and running casinos"...into the ground.
Our president. Mr loonytoon. How we long for sanity.
24
That British People loathe him is palpable. I'm sure they hope the next American President is the antidote. A sweet, little British girl once sang a charming ditty to me when I visited--at the end she wished Trump a swift demise. Out of character with the song, she was no less emphatic--Hysterically Funny......
24
Well, the Trump clan certainly demonstrated that they are barbarians at the gate, storming Buckingham Palace en masse. Can you imagine how the real thing must have looked to them after a lifetime spent in the confines of Trump Tower apartments and those places full of counterfeit antiques and off kilter decor? The mind reels: did they take photos? Pose for selfies? Filch a bauble?
Give them this on a golden platter: they are first rate, world class opportunists, every last one of them. Unrivaled. Top notch. Creme de la creme.
As for the Queen, god save her from the Trumps. She survived the visit and hopefully, her reign will proceed with no further interruptions from the Trump family.
127
19 comments and more (this is a moving total) may just be a slow start. Or, could it be that his buffoonery is just so repetitive that we are tiring of the stuff (there is a better word) that spews forth.
13
Ain addition to being embarrassed, I am very sick and very tired of the ridiculous Trump kids and their ridiculous spouses having a national and global platform.
In reality, it is just a big taxpayer funded vacation, party and fashion shoot.
(And they do not even appear to pay any taxes.)
We used to demand excellence, expertise, and experience from the dedicated persons we sent such meetings.
Now it's a joke. On us.
182
@r mackinnon
What is Melania besides a mannequin for designer clothes, a role she seems perfectly at home in?
1
I am traveling outside US and people constantly ask me how can US people tolerate Trump as President?
I try to give some irrational answers that this is only a bump in an otherwise sane country, then when I think back I believe this is not a bump, it is going to be the new normal for US future. US is in decline and will continue to be in decline and time will come when we won’t matter in the world stage. It will be too late then to wake up
40
A few months before the 2016 election I was in Canada visiting friends. They asked me, "Trump has no chance of actually being elected, right?" Aw, I was touched--they were so naive about American politics. I laughed and paraphrased Mencken--"Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public." To the people who think Trump is an anomaly I say, "Just wait until you see who the next guy the Republicans nominate is." By being cynical I have yet to be disappointed.
2
The president paid the Brits a visit. For those obligated to host the affair, they endured it, nothing more. The folks in the streets were a pretty good gauge of how they feel about him.
40
The editorial board spells it plain and simple: the state of the nation is gross and unpredictable enough to make the US presidency the laughing bread and butter of comedians and protesters the world over.
The next stop on the beaches of Normandy will prove outright humiliating:a president of the nation that saved our civilization insulting the memory of so many fallen Americans and allies ,by his mere bone spurs attendance.
The abject submission to his whims by his cabinet advisers and senior fellow republicans simply remain baffling;how can so many competent ,qualified professionals sacrifice their good name and credibility to defend spur of the moment utterances instantly turned into US policy?
There has to be some cosmic explanation that has eluded us all because it is too large for us to take it all in.
69
Maybe the reason fewer people protest is that more have grown to understand and like him.
2
@Ronald B. Duke
You're joking, right? Polls shows 2/3 of Brits have a negative view of Trump.
58
Mind the gap!!
11
@Ronald B. Duke
Did you miss the part of the article which stated "...an online petition opposing the visit...garnered 1,863,708 signatures." Or the fact that 2/3 of poll respondents had a negative opinion of him?
The British people are as weary of this poor excuse for a President as we are.
82
"Queen Elizabeth II, diminutive alongside Mr. Trump, seemed to enjoy showing him and his family around her palace...There was really nothing else to this extremely costly state visit, since Mrs. May is a lame duck, her successor is unknown and British politics are in utter disarray over Brexit."
Perfect, as USA politics are also in utter disarray. Meanwhile climate change waits for no one: fires rage, heat kills, forests are cleared, floods and tornados escalate and species go extinct. Mercy.
39
What happens if America and the rest of the world simply becomes board with President Trump's lies and outrageous behavior, and we tune it out? Either we've become so cynical that nothing shocks us, which is fertile ground for authoritarianism and oligarchy. Or, like reality television, will President Trump come up with new ways to hold our attention? An international crisis? A war? What will get better ratings?
10
The Brits have not lost their wit, upon a gilded loo Trump did sit. Now some readers may have found the reaction of our friends across The Pond off-putting and even rude. Not I. I wish I were there to experience Trump's dissing. They had enough courage, far more than we here, to call this guy exactly what he is...a corrupt, nasty man, a loser in the real sense of the word. Think about it: Not invited to Parliament; a polite refusal by Boris J to meet with his "admirer"; and those thousands of protesters outside Buckingham Palace while the Trump family sat at an undeserved banquet with the Queen. And those outfits worn by Melania, Ivanka, and Tiffany...did they thank any one us for paying for them? As a final farewell, Trump will meet the head of Ireland in, ta da, the VIP lounge in Shannon Airport. But we have a welcome of our own to greet Mr. Trump upon the return to his realm: The GOP Senate is mighty angry at its leader with this latest Mexico tariff plot; and our House Democrats just passed unanimously - with 7 Republicans on board - a bill to place our Dreamers on the road to citizenship. But still, wouldn't it be nice if SOME or ANY country agreed to adopt this man for the rest of his and our lives?
56
@Kathy Lollock. Wish the Brits only met with him in an airport lounge. That’s all he deserves. Shouldn’t have let him officially into the country. The Irish are right on.
1
GOP - the time to protest is now. We don't care that you weren't on board with protesting Trump's attacks on our air, land and water; we don't care that you are decimating healthcare for poor families, putting assault weapons into the hands of killers, or cheered any number of actions that Trump has taken to degrade the office of the presidency. Let's dump that in the past and look at today:
Mexico is our number one trading partner and you know that Trump did not have any blithering idea that was the case when he called Britain our largest trading partner. Don't let him tax our country and upend our economy out of sheer, monumental ignorance.
Put up a decent candidate to run against him, or resign, yourselves, for dereliction of duty.
37
This individual was may have received the perfunctory and typically gracious royal reception, but rest assured... he was thought of as nothing more than an aberrant made-in-the-USA curiosity that love of God and Country required a temporary abidance of.
A proverbial and pitiable fish out of water.
And that's about it.
31
Every time Trump comes back from a foreign trip, America counts fewer friends.
63
@Bill bartelt Also every time he opens his tweeting mouth
Clearly more people feel free to protest this president in the UK than here. In year 1 of Donald Trump's "reign" (his image not mine), immediately following his inauguration, women's marches created the largest crowds ever.
Not so much any more. Maybe people have gone underground. Maybe there are more bloggers, posters, anonymous protesters--or so it seems from the increased volume of comments here.
It's hard to maintain a level of resistance when nothing ever seems to change, just worsens gradually over time. But these days I often feel less despair over the fact that protests seem to gone missing than I do at adding up all the ways this president has coarsened our culture and weakened our institutions.
We can't afford to let our mojo die any more than we can allow this man to win another term.
81
@ChristineMcM
It's no use getting worn out by commander bone-spur's antics. We're resting up and gathering our strength for the up coming fight.
36
@ChristineMcM maybe nobody believes that there is any possibility of change !
4
So true. Americans have become too complacent. The millions of women who marched not just in the U.S but around the world created a movement as did the MLK march on Washington for civil rights. Today it can also be the power of the people visibly seen in the media when all other appeals to government officials yield no results. If mass demonstrations in the streets are not tenable, perhaps massive strikes on named corporations for a day can be more effective, and not just on Wall Street. I felt ashamed that our fellow resistors across the pond came out to protest Trump, even in relatively small numbers, while we watched on cable from our living rooms. Hopefully at least there were some of us working in solidarity with the Brits in relatively small grassroots organizations across the country.
3
I do celebrate their passion and their civic engagement. I wonder where the protests are in this country? Our outrage has been internalized and I don't know whether that's healthy. In England they don't have to go back living with the same people they were protesting that afternoon. I can only imagine what strangers must think of us because I'm unable to come up with a proper excuse for our actions and our continued enabling of this compromise to our very ideals. Thank you British people for showing that you still respect those ideals and are willing to take to the streets with enthusiasm, humor and good will.
88
@Rick Gage I was rather thinking the same thing. There were the spate of demonstrations around the inaugural, a few counter-protests against white supremacists and a science march, but not much more than that. Every day brings another outrage against reason and rationality - the EPA chief declared bad environmental news "fake media bias" only yesterday. It seems that most Americans have become inured to it - which is another way of saying profoundly disengaged. The trouble of course is that the bad environmental news is not fake, and it's getting much worse. We're only one national crisis away from actually needing a functioning Federal bureaucracy; and we won't have it.
28
What constitutes greatness?
The acclaim of ones peers?
The effect of ones virtue?
The sagacity of ones actions?
Oh well.
18
Whatever it is, Trump doesn't have it.
1
Every action or non action of Trump and his party is so very negative. I want my tax dollars to improve our infrastructure ( roads, rails, bridges, Internet connections, etc. ). Why does Mr. Trump and his party not act? Traveling this spring I have seen a little of the devastation caused by tornadoes and floods. I want my tax dollars to help those needing emergency assistance, especially those living in poorer communities and Puerto Rico, please. Why does it take Trump’s party months to act and, of course, more aid will be quickly needed. How long will it take? I want my tax dolllars to support public education not for profit charter schools. And so it goes from health care to planet care to misuse of tariffs to almost always fact-less. Yes, Trump and his party is so negative toward the citizens of America. And when abroad he cannot change. Rather than affirming and supporting and enriching the country he visits all he can do is find someone or some issue to deride the country.
45
"There was really nothing else to this extremely costly state visit". I would have thought that Americans would be tired of Trump wasting their tax dollars. The part I really don't get, though, is why bring the whole family except for little Barron? You'd think that he would be the one that would really get into it and be able to tell all his little friends about how wonderful Daddy's reception was in Jolly Olde England but no, they left the little fella behind. Maybe they were afraid he'd ask for one of those great balloons that look so much like Daddy?
98
@Dash Riprock
It is very odd that Barron is so rarely seen. He is off limits but usually, sightings of small first children are really lovely.
7
He’s not a little kid. He entering teen age and is almost as tall as Trump.
4
@Dash Riprock
I have wondered that too. Barron's presence on this visit would have done a lot more for Trump's PR than that trashy gaggle of elder Trump offspring that have tagged along at huge cost to the US taxpayer, and he might have actually enjoyed visiting London and meeting the Royal Family.
I like to think Barron's sitting at home on his own being rebellious and watching the protests against Daddy on CNN, MSNBC or another of those "Fake News!" channels that are probably usually banned in the White House.
I hope he enjoyed seeing our wonderful landmarks, the Tower of London (with Dad's miserable UK poll numbers compared to Obama's projected upon it) and Madame Tussauds (complete with a projection of a cap from the USS John McCain).
5
What is sadder than his mockery of the diner event is his appearance in Normandy where Trump will read a script prepared for him, that he will recite like an 8th grader offering a report written by a parent.
He will nor realize the stunning profundity of the event, stammering on about winners, making crude comments while in the cemetery, thus diminishing the courage and service those persons offered because he has neither.
238
@East Coaster in the Heartland
We visited Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery and there was such respect in the atmosphere. To think that it will be defiled by the presence of this con man, criminal who is selling out his own country is just appalling. He'll read a speech in that flat monotone of his and then he'll speak to media about himself.
We are New Yorkers who spent years in the midwest and now in NC but we knew about Donnie No Class 40 years ago.
92
@East Coaster in the Heartland
The bone-spurs will probably keep him from walking in the cemetery. He's a joke around the world and the only people who don't agree are the fox-watchers.
80
@M T k
Indeed, he is an insult to all those who have left their lives on the sand of Omaha Beach. How chilling.
5
The pathetic little little man, Donnie Trump descended on London with all his belligerent bluster and ignorance, and on top of that, he brought along his dysfunctional children and other useless and unnecessary hangers on.
He was a walking talking embarrassment to the United States, that reeked of ignorance and crass stupidity.
This crass fool is delusional, dangerous and very disturbed.
The sooner this clown prince is thrown out of the White House, the better it will be for the entire planet. He’s a walking talking time bomb that could blowup at the slightest provocation.
307
@Doremus Jessup. Did you see how nervous and on edge Theresa May was when journalists were asking Trump tough questions. She was obviously so afraid that he would explode. My brother worked with dangerous psychotic murderers in the prison system and Trump is about as stable.
8
@Doremus Jessup
Its helpful to remember that when this is over, the SDNY will be waiting nearby.
2
"Back then state visits were minutely choreographed .. Trump is happy to take his Twitter on the road."
As Americans see it, the establishment had shackled freedom of speech, and Trump has released us to live like we want to live .. freely expressing our thoughts and opinions without walking on eggshells and faking ourselves to be politically correct.
E.g. I posted criticism on NYT comment section, one against Trump and another against Biden. Guess which one got posted and which one didn't.
6
@Bhasker
Supporting an Authoritarian Fascist-style leader makes us more free...said no one ever.
125
@Bhaskar let me guess. The Biden one included forbidden words.
4
@Bhaskar
Try again. The Times does not post all comments. I'm pretty sure some get lost in the cracks. There is no discernible political bias about which ones don't appear. (My lost ones are all anti-Trump.)
15
We've finally done it. We've finally "elected" a "president" who humiliates the entire nation every time he speaks here or abroad.
I remember presidents back to Eisenhower. And Dubya definitely had more than one cringeworthy moment during his representation of us on the international stage.
But Trump's conduct is such a sickening disgrace that the entire nation should be ashamed when he travels outside our borders. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be literally humiliated by the United States president's speech and conduct. But this day has come to pass, and every day since Trump took office has been a sickening experience for those of us who once had pride in our country.
Any citizen who travels outside the U.S. is now put in the position of trying to answer for the disgusting man in the White House and his toadies. As one who has traveled abroad since his "election", I can avow how humiliating an experience this is. I simply tell those who ask that I certainly did not vote for him, that his opponent garnered several million more votes than he did, and at least 60% of us are literally sickened by this administration. But I have no answer for the charge that 40% of our citizens adore this disgusting man.
I will not watch any television coverage of Trump's visit to Great Britain, or any other of his spectacles that have brought and will continue to bring such shame to our country. Trump's conduct is anathema to everything this country once stood for.
596
@Nicholas Rush
When travelling abroad, it's much easier to just say that you're from Canada. Much more respect, far fewer explanations, and total amazement of how many Canadians seem to be back in the Old Country lately!
67
@Leanne. I did the same when GWB held the office. Republicans seem to be getting deeper and deeper into the gutter.
19
@Leanne
I live in France and when asked about the turmoil and upheaval of Brexit and the damage that it has caused to the reputation of the UK in Europe, I just say that I am Irish. It is rather cowardly but frankly I am at a loss to explain such utter stupidity to a third party
11
The Trumps visiting the Royals is exactly like “ The Beverly Hillbillies do London “, but absolutely without the charm. Donald, the Duke of Oaf. I salute the Royals for their great hospitality for America. And I adore the common folk of London, for their protests and the biting wit and accuracy of their Signs.
Well played.
686
@Phyliss Dalmatian
I was thinking of an unwritten episode of "Dan and Roseanne Connor meet the Queen", but the "Beverly Hillbillies do London" works, too.
8
Though Trump considers himself a "stable genius," he has the vocabulary of a ten-year-old. He's especially embarrassing when he tweets out puerile insults to people far more serious than he is.
166
@bnyc
he is, in fact, a stable genius. He is able to shovel more horse poop normal people.
2
@bnyc
And this "genius" needs to be kept in the stable.
(my apologies to the noble horses who would have to put up with him)
1
@bnyc and when he reads a prepared speech aloud, the whole world cringes.
1
Trump made fun of Mayor Khan’s height, but no one is smaller than Trump himself.
581
@NM: Or, as J.K. Rowling observed: "You, tiny, tiny, tiny little man...", after he shoved Montenegor's Prime Minister Dusko Markovic aside to get in front of a group of officials.
129
@NM
Admirably symbolized by the great photo on the front page showing a tiny Trump dwarfed by the image of FDR.
4
Talk about ‘the ugly American!’
Last year, Trump marked his UK visit by claiming that Ms. May couldn’t make Brexit work because she didn’t take his advice.
This year, Trump began his visit by making gratuitously snide remarks about Mr. Khan.
Oh, and then there is the matter of Trump inserting himself into another nation’s political situation...
This is a shameful way to be represented. Not in my name, Mr. Trump.
310
As one who grew up on British humor in Canada, I can understand this.
The British get bored with showboating and gibberish faster than Americans. They can't stand Trump, but his act became same ol' same ol' long ago. He has become the yapping little dog you learn to tune out.
205
So true.
I was gripped by the first 100 episodes of “Trump: The President”. but it’s getting very repetitive and predictable now.
And it’s on every single day.
Not sure there will be a second series? Ratings have plummeted over here.
Please can you elect a real president in 2020 and we can all get back to reality.
26
@Tim....for quite a while I've had to watch TV with the remote always near---I don't look at him or hear him. Can't stand it.
5
The majority of reflective American’s side anticipated that Trump’s royal visit to the U.K. would prove money can’t buy you class.
We also already knew, on the basis of long-standing experience, that the expenditure of Trumpestuous money generally results in crass display.
We fondly remember when “Trump-tacky” referred solely to tasteless architecture and gaudy Robber-Baron-Baroque interior design—and did not refer chiefly to the demeaning of the U.S. presidency.
150
Trump is an international embarrassment and disgraces America by his words and actions wherever he goes. And that Mr.President is NOT fake news. Whether you like it or not.
588
The news are indeed inaccurate by saying there's a lot of protests because compared to Americans who wants him to get out of America, there's only a small number of British who don't want him to be there.
That's the problem. Mr. Trump's bragging, bullying and lying have become the new normal. Everyone acts as if it's just business as usual.
63
@Seldoc
Exactly, that we have to even consider iq45 in any serious way is absurd.
I have mean thoughts about his demise everyday.
Then we still must contend with the Republicans who are equally ridiculous in their propping up of this boorish humanoid of sorts.
There is no pride rendered from these thoughts.
1
@Seldoc.... actually, I have to say, it's not the new normal. We expect it from him, but it still is abnormal.
We see plenty of criticism of his every bizarre statement---from the press, on TV, except on the GOP state media Fox, and certainly in most of reader comments.
We know it's normal for him, but not for our politics and American democracy. We just wait for the new president---whenever that will be.
1