The Guardian view on dining with Donald Trump: use a long spoon, prime minister
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Version 0 of 1. The invitation to meet a newly inaugurated US president is a sign of prestige and an opportunity, regardless of who holds that office. For Theresa May to be the first foreign leader to enjoy the privilege is undoubtedly a feather in Britain’s diplomatic cap. Whatever misgivings the world might have about Donald Trump, access to the White House is a source of power and influence, better to have than to forfeit. But it would be naive for Mrs May to imagine that her trip to the US on Friday can be treated as traditional statecraft. She cannot ignore global anxieties about Mr Trump’s volatile character and policy agenda. The president’s first week in office has contained no sign that he intends a pivot towards moderation or is capable of one. What you see with Mr Trump is what you get – a man without affection for the rules of diplomacy or respect for the protocols of his office, the US constitution, objectively verifiable truth or international law; a man both vain and insecure who looks out on the world as if through a lens, seeking opportunities to wield power over others; a monumental narcissist. Mr Trump’s contempt for the norms of international relations does not mean Mrs May should disregard them too. She is right to underline Britain’s longstanding strategic partnership with the US. Presidents come and go and global alliances are built on more than transient personality politics. It is too early to say that Mr Trump’s apparently tyrannical character heralds some deeper subversion of American democracy, which has strong foundations. It is not impossible that Mrs May will have some positive influence, steering the president towards a more balanced approach to questions of European security, for example. She must try. Mr Trump’s opinions of Nato and the EU show contempt for institutions that have underpinned global security and prosperity. His cavalier attitude towards the use of torture and his readiness to make immigrants the scapegoat for all of modern America’s ills are not merely illiberal – they testify to disregard for values that should be the underpinning of any meaningful alliance between democracies. In strategic terms, Mr Trump’s readiness to see the EU unravel is especially dangerous for Mrs May. She is about to embark on difficult negotiations with European leaders who will be appalled by Mr Trump’s apparent hostility to their project. He celebrates Brexit as a twin movement to the one that saw him elected and eagerly anticipates more disruption in the same vein. For a British prime minister to be seen in collusion with that destructive fantasy would make separation talks much less amicable. But Mrs May is travelling to Washington with the intention of signalling Britain’s economic independence from the rest of Europe. She hopes to make progress towards a bilateral free trade deal and thereby persuade her domestic audience as well as continental leaders that the UK has offers to rival the privileges it would surrender on exit from the European single market. The problem with this objective is its transparent desperation. Mr Trump may be ignorant but he is no fool. Aggressive, zero-sum deal-making is the one area where he can plausibly boast expertise. He can see that Mrs May’s need for an agreement is politically urgent. The commercial opportunities offered by the UK to the US, while potentially attractive, are not indispensable. Trump also embraces a trade doctrine that treats imports as a sign of weakness. He is not interested in opening US markets to foreign producers. His inaugural speech was a manifesto of protectionism and economic nationalism. No amount of cultural affection for the UK or personal camaraderie that might be struck up with the prime minister will overcome the new White House administration’s determination that trade is conducted to satisfy an “America first” doctrine. Mrs May’s hand is weak in Washington and the worse she plays it, the weaker she becomes in Europe too. She might hope that effusive tribute and appeals to historical partnership will earn Mr Trump’s admiration and amplify Britain’s status in the world. But it is far from clear that Mr Trump is a reliable or stable partner and uncertain that his friendship will, in the longer term, be much of a recommendation to the rest of the world. It is right that the prime minister wants to sustain the old trans-Atlantic partnership. But that can be achieved without abandoning loyalty to European neighbours and it must be done without betraying values that have sustained other alliances. |