Donald Trump's inauguration: How Britain is racing to become President's closest ally

Analysis: In the nick of time, the vital relationships are getting into place
Set to take office: Donald Trump
REUTERS

Tuesday night saw a milestone in the British government’s race to get close to the world’s most powerful man.

It was at the most exclusive of Donald Trump’s pre-inauguration events, a black tie dinner where 200 foreign diplomats were among guests permitted to meet the new President and his team.

In the melee, the UK’s ambassador Sir Kim Darroch finally had his first face-to-face chat with the man who was elected in November, bagging that all-important handshake just two days before the swearing-in ceremony.

Ever the professional, Sir Kim did not leave without grabbing chats with Mike Pence, the VP and several cabinet nominees. The diplomatic service has been playing catch-up since Nigel Farage cheekily outflanked it by jetting over to Trump Tower to bask as the President-elect’s preferred choice of ambassador. In the nick of time, the vital relationships are getting into place.

In mid-December, the PM’s two closest aides Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy travelled secretly to New York and Washington to meet members of Trump’s incoming team, including son-in-law Jared Kushner, chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and national security adviser Michael Flynn, a retired Lieutenant General.

Boris Johnson, who has had warm conversations with Mike Pence, nipped over two weeks ago to meet the administration-in-waiting, though he did not get to meet the President-elect. That honour fell to former leadership rival Michael Gove, who pulled off the coup of an interview for the Times.

As Trump celebrates his inauguration - the new President insists his first day of actual work will be on Monday after a weekend of partying - there is just one meeting left to secure before No 10 can relax and feel it has succeeded in becoming the closest foreign ally of the new tenant of the White House.

Theresa May’s face-to-face meeting will take place “in the spring”, says Downing Street, but diplomats think it will happen sooner rather than later.

The Prime Minister sought to charm him with a Christmas gift of a text of Churchill’s 1941 wartime radio address to Americans from the White House in which he spoke of “a sense of unity and fraternal association” between Britain and America. As a lure for an early meeting, she has dangled the prospect of a State Visit that would see Trump stay as guest of the Queen, whom his Scottish-born mother adored.

For his part, Trump has promised a quick trade deal for the UK after it leaves the EU, and predicted Brexit will “end up being a great thing” - both hugely helpful to Mrs May’s brinkmanship in the coming EU negotiations. And he has indicated he will restore the Churchill that Barack Obama had removed from the Oval Office.

Not everyone is joining the race to hug Trump. Angela Merkel has no visit lined up. The German chancellor greeted his victory cooly, offering “close co-operation” but on the basis of respecting the “dignity of each and every person, regardless of their origin, skin colour, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or political views”, values that Mr Trump does not obviously share.

Donald Trump - In pictures

1/85

The President bared his fangs at her this week when he attacked her refugee policy as “catastrophic”, threatened 35 per cent tariffs on BMW cars made in Mexico, and sniped at “obsolete” Nato. But Germany, unlike Britain, is playing it cool. “We will see what policy really is after the inauguration,” said foreign ministry official Martin Schaefer.

Britain, leaving the security of the EU in two years, cannot afford to display such sang-froid. But Mrs May has plenty in common with Trump to make up for their contrasting styles. They are both believers in free trade, and when it comes to security the UK co-operates far more with America than it does with Europe. On the world stage, they agree on many key questions, a glaring exception being how to handle Vladimir Putin.

If Trump is a success as US President, Mrs May’s charm offensive will look like a triumph of diplomacy. But with the billionaire beginning his first term as the first to have lower popularity rating than when elected, the question haunting UK diplomats is whether our new friend in Washington will actually last the course.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in