Top Diplomat Reveals Trump Team Worried About Embarrassing Protest on State Visit
Former U.K. ambassador Kim Darroch says White House aides were “quite happy” to ditch London for Windsor, fearing giant baby-blimp protests and a humiliating turnout.
WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Donald Trump’s aides pushed to shield him from London’s angry crowds during his first state visit, Britain’s former Washington envoy Sir Kim Darroch has revealed.
Whitehall sources previously told The Telegraph that the date of Trump’s second state visit—and a decision to bar him from Britain’s House of Commons lectern—was pure politics as Labour MPs threatened to vacate the green benches in protest, and organizers feared TV shots of a half-empty chamber and the return of the blimp.
Now, speaking to the Financial Times, Darroch—who steered protocol talks for Trump’s 2019 trip—hinted that the U.S. president was aware little had changed from the first time around, when planners at the White House encouraged him to bypass parliament and allow almost no contact with the public.
Then-U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, with the country’s ambassador to the U.S. at the time, Sir Kim Darroch, after arriving in Philadelphia ahead of her meeting with Donald Trump in January 2017.
Stefan Rousseau - PA Images/Stefan Rousseau/PA Images via Getty Images
“They were quite happy with that,” he said. “They didn’t say he wanted to meet his adoring British public… They were always sensitive to the prospect of embarrassment or hostile crowds or low turnout.”
“We were worried about protesters with their giant Trump-shaped balloon,” he added of Trump’s first visit.
Demonstrators fly a blimp portraying U.S. President Donald Trump, in Parliament Square, during the visit by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in London, Britain July 13, 2018.
Reuters/Peter Nicholls
While a White House official previously told the Daily Beast that Trump addressing parliament was “never expected or even discussed” this time around, Darroch’s comments add color to Buckingham Palace’s newly announced schedule for his second state visit to Britain on September 17-19.
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The trip will make Trump the first U.S. leader ever granted two state visits but—as reported Friday—denies him the parliamentary address enjoyed by Trump’s political rivals, including Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Emmanuel Macron.
Westminster will be in recess during Trump’s second visit—handily sparing lawmakers another debate over whether the divisive world leader deserves the honor.
A man is pictured as he sells his Donald Trump-themed toilet paper rolls outside the Houses of Parliament, London, on July 9, 2019, during Trump's first state visit. Trump's team is keen to avoid a repeat of the protests witnessed on that ocassion.
NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Darroch, whose confidential cables calling Trump “inept” leaked in 2019, said U.K. officials had warned counterparts that central-London protests were possible.
Footage of the 20-foot “Trump Baby” blimp hovering over Whitehall became the lasting image of that earlier visit.
This time, with little having changed in terms of the public sentiment towards Trump in the U.K., a Windsor-only itinerary and a state banquet with King Charles III aim to deliver the royal pomp he craves without the street theater he loathes.
Trump will also meet Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who hand-delivered Charles’s invitation at the White House in February.
An earlier side trip to his Scottish golf courses is also expected, but insiders have told the FT it will remain “semi-private” to avoid fresh flashpoints.
The Telegraph reported Friday that Downing Street is still shuffling calendars to squeeze in a meeting with Starmer during what officials stress will be a purposefully low-profile stopover.
The White House was approached for comment over Darroch’s comments.
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