Donald Trump arrived in London Monday morning to kick off his first official state visit the U.K., a trip that has been more than two years in the making. Though Prime Minister Theresa May first extended an invitation to Trump in early 2017, the threat of massive protests delayed his visit until now. The protests, of course, are still coming, with the biggest demonstrations scheduled for Tuesday.
Here’s a running list of what Trump’s done in the U.K.:
He appeared to insult Meghan Markle
Technically, Trump did this before arriving in the U.K., but bad-mouthing the Duchess of Sussex will reverberate during the trip. Trump’s comment came in an Oval Office interview with The Sun on Friday. Reminded that Markle had opposed him during the 2016 election — she called him aggressively “misogynistic” and said she’d move to Canada if he was elected— Trump said he didn’t know about her opposition to his candidacy. “I didn’t know that she was nasty,” he said. And then he went on to compliment her.
The White House explained that Trump was referring to Markle’s words as “nasty,” not her. He seemed to make that point himself in a tweet. Trump has often used the word “nasty” when talking about women with whom he disagrees, including Hillary Clinton; Kamala Harris; and Carmen Yulín, the mayor San Juan, Puerto Rico.
If Prince Harry was upset about the remark he didn’t let it get in the way of his official duties. He joined the Trump family for lunch and then helped show them around Buckingham Palace.
He definitely insulted London mayor Sadiq Khan
On Saturday, Khan wrote an op-ed for The Observer with a headline that he no doubt hoped Trump would see: “It’s Un-British to Roll Out the Red Carpet for Donald Trump.” In the piece, Khan wrote that Trump is a “far right” leader who is “one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat.”
Trump responded with some tweets on Monday morning.
The feud between these two goes back years now. In 2015, Khan called Trump’s proposed Muslim ban “outrageous,” and in May 2016, he added that Trump’s views on Muslims are “ignorant.” Trump lashed out by challenging Khan to an IQ test. After a 2017 terrorist attack in London, Trump again criticized Khan. A year later, during Trump’s working visit to the U.K., Khan granted permission for protesters to fly a balloon of Baby Trump over London.
Khan responded to Trump’s tweets Monday with a tweet of his own that focused on attacks on abortion rights.
He was greeted by some creative yard work
He suggested Americans boycott AT&T to force changes at CNN
Trump’s seemingly random outburst about CNN and AT&T Monday morning appears based on his inability to tune in to Fox News in the U.K. Forced to watch a few minutes of CNN, Trump turned off his TV, grabbed his phone, and fired off a rather disconcerting tweet.
The president’s urging a boycott of a private company because he doesn’t like a news network seems bad.
Queen Elizabeth subtly suggested Trump read a damn book
He had tea with Prince Charles
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump joined the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall for tea at Clarence House. One issue that likely won’t come up is climate change. Charles and Trump are opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to how seriously they regard global warming. Charles has called the global climate crisis “the wolf at the door” and warned of the “potentially catastrophic” consequences. Trump, meanwhile, thinks it’s a Chinese hoax.
He took a three-mile helicopter ride to avoid street traffic
In a tweet, Trump said that he hadn’t seen any protests, but that he was “sure the Fake News will be working hard to find them.” Perhaps one of the reasons he didn’t experience any street-level dissent was because he avoided London’s streets entirely, opting for a three-mile helicopter ride to get from Buckingham Palace to Winfield Place, the residence of the U.S. ambassador where the Trumps are staying.
He wore a tiny coat to the state dinner
State dinners in the United Kingdom are a white-tie affair, but the president’s coat and tails setup was thrown off by an alarmingly small coat.
He brought an unnecessarily large entourage
In addition to the presence of his four adult children at the state dinner, President Trump brought along Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephen Miller, Mick Mulvaney, social media director Dan Scavino, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and his wife Louise Linton.
