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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| The Observer view on Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain | The Observer view on Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain |
| (8 days later) | |
| Sun 11 Jun 2017 00.08 BST | Sun 11 Jun 2017 00.08 BST |
| Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2017 03.09 GMT | Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2017 03.09 GMT |
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| Donald Trump is not a fit and proper person to hold the office of president of the United States. That is a view widely held in the US and among America’s European allies, by politicians and diplomats in government and by rank-and-file voters repelled by his gross egoism, narcissism and what Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has rightly termed his “stupefying ignorance”. It is a view we wholeheartedly share and have repeatedly expressed, before and after Trump’s narrow election victory last November. | Donald Trump is not a fit and proper person to hold the office of president of the United States. That is a view widely held in the US and among America’s European allies, by politicians and diplomats in government and by rank-and-file voters repelled by his gross egoism, narcissism and what Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has rightly termed his “stupefying ignorance”. It is a view we wholeheartedly share and have repeatedly expressed, before and after Trump’s narrow election victory last November. |
| Trump is an habitual liar, as evidenced again in last week’s sworn congressional testimony by his sacked FBI director, James Comey. Trump is a bully, as Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, among many others, can testify from personal experience. And Trump is a coward. When put on the spot, as over his authorisation of a disastrous special forces raid in Yemen in January or his bogus claim that Britain’s GCHQ bugged him, his craven instinct was to shift blame to others. | Trump is an habitual liar, as evidenced again in last week’s sworn congressional testimony by his sacked FBI director, James Comey. Trump is a bully, as Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, among many others, can testify from personal experience. And Trump is a coward. When put on the spot, as over his authorisation of a disastrous special forces raid in Yemen in January or his bogus claim that Britain’s GCHQ bugged him, his craven instinct was to shift blame to others. |
| The Observer is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, founded in 1791. It is published by Guardian News & Media and is editorially independent. | |
| Since taking office, Trump’s dangerous, loutish and irresponsible behaviour has exceeded his critics’ worst nightmares. He has fuelled Islamist extremism by escalating US military involvement in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, at a rising cost in civilian lives. He has exacerbated divisions by his attempts to ban Muslims travelling to the US. He threatens war with Iran while cutting foreign aid and cosying up to autocrats and human rights abusers in Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Turkey. | Since taking office, Trump’s dangerous, loutish and irresponsible behaviour has exceeded his critics’ worst nightmares. He has fuelled Islamist extremism by escalating US military involvement in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, at a rising cost in civilian lives. He has exacerbated divisions by his attempts to ban Muslims travelling to the US. He threatens war with Iran while cutting foreign aid and cosying up to autocrats and human rights abusers in Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Turkey. |
| The list of Trump’s ill-judged actions, reckless comments and destructive policies goes on and on. For Britain, this phenomenon poses particular challenges. The president’s personal failings and damaging policies are combining to threaten Britain’s national interests in fundamental ways. And unless Britain’s leaders and the British people, demonstrating their bottomless opposition in inventive ways, are prepared to stand up to him, the “special relationship” with the US, long seen as the bedrock of this country’s security and prosperity, may be at serious risk. | The list of Trump’s ill-judged actions, reckless comments and destructive policies goes on and on. For Britain, this phenomenon poses particular challenges. The president’s personal failings and damaging policies are combining to threaten Britain’s national interests in fundamental ways. And unless Britain’s leaders and the British people, demonstrating their bottomless opposition in inventive ways, are prepared to stand up to him, the “special relationship” with the US, long seen as the bedrock of this country’s security and prosperity, may be at serious risk. |
| The Trump threat to Britain takes many forms. It was vividly illustrated by his gratuitous attack on Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, in the wake of the London Bridge atrocities. Trump was not only offensive and wrong. He also showed total lack of understanding of the solidarity required of democratic leaders in such situations. | The Trump threat to Britain takes many forms. It was vividly illustrated by his gratuitous attack on Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, in the wake of the London Bridge atrocities. Trump was not only offensive and wrong. He also showed total lack of understanding of the solidarity required of democratic leaders in such situations. |
| Trump threatens Britain’s security by refusing explicitly to endorse solemn US treaty obligations pledging the Nato alliance to treat an attack on one member as an attack on all. Trump’s ambiguous flirtation with the aggressive regime of Vladimir Putin, despite what Comey has called irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling in last year’s US election, is inimical to British and European democracy and defence. | Trump threatens Britain’s security by refusing explicitly to endorse solemn US treaty obligations pledging the Nato alliance to treat an attack on one member as an attack on all. Trump’s ambiguous flirtation with the aggressive regime of Vladimir Putin, despite what Comey has called irrefutable evidence of Russian meddling in last year’s US election, is inimical to British and European democracy and defence. |
| British interests are also threatened by his arrogant, unilateral trashing of the global Paris climate change pact. Trump’s deliberate efforts to pick a fight with Germany over trade, and his pathetic, alpha male one-upmanship towards France’s younger French president, Emmanuel Macron, is another disservice to a US-allied, Brexit Britain struggling to remake its relations with the EU. If Trump’s insulting treatment of Sadiq Khan was prompted by the fact the mayor is a Muslim (a suspicion rejected by the White House as “ridiculous”), then it is reasonable to wonder whether his repeated rudeness to Merkel stems from the fact she is a woman. Misogyny is a way of life for Trump, as numerous women testified during last year’s campaign. | British interests are also threatened by his arrogant, unilateral trashing of the global Paris climate change pact. Trump’s deliberate efforts to pick a fight with Germany over trade, and his pathetic, alpha male one-upmanship towards France’s younger French president, Emmanuel Macron, is another disservice to a US-allied, Brexit Britain struggling to remake its relations with the EU. If Trump’s insulting treatment of Sadiq Khan was prompted by the fact the mayor is a Muslim (a suspicion rejected by the White House as “ridiculous”), then it is reasonable to wonder whether his repeated rudeness to Merkel stems from the fact she is a woman. Misogyny is a way of life for Trump, as numerous women testified during last year’s campaign. |
| Trump’s patronising, manipulative treatment of Theresa May during her White House visit in January, particularly when, uninvited, he took her by the hand, is another aspect of the overall problem. Plainly, Trump is no friend to Britain. On the contrary, he is a menace. His divisive policies, his authoritarian tendencies, his disrespect for the US constitution, his ignorance and fear of the world, his mendaciousness and grubby personal instincts amount to a clear and present danger to British interests. | Trump’s patronising, manipulative treatment of Theresa May during her White House visit in January, particularly when, uninvited, he took her by the hand, is another aspect of the overall problem. Plainly, Trump is no friend to Britain. On the contrary, he is a menace. His divisive policies, his authoritarian tendencies, his disrespect for the US constitution, his ignorance and fear of the world, his mendaciousness and grubby personal instincts amount to a clear and present danger to British interests. |
| Trump – not the US – is a hostile, dangerous power. May, or her successor, should recognise the threat he poses and rescind his invitation to make a state visit to Britain this autumn. Contrary to what the two-faced Johnson says, there is every reason to block this visit. The prospect of this loathsome man being afforded the full honours of the British state is quite simply disgusting. It is an affront to the British people and British values. It could cause lasting damage to the Anglo-American relationship. Assuming he is not impeached first, oafish Trump must be told: you are not welcome here. | Trump – not the US – is a hostile, dangerous power. May, or her successor, should recognise the threat he poses and rescind his invitation to make a state visit to Britain this autumn. Contrary to what the two-faced Johnson says, there is every reason to block this visit. The prospect of this loathsome man being afforded the full honours of the British state is quite simply disgusting. It is an affront to the British people and British values. It could cause lasting damage to the Anglo-American relationship. Assuming he is not impeached first, oafish Trump must be told: you are not welcome here. |
| Donald Trump | Donald Trump |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Iran | Iran |
| Sadiq Khan | Sadiq Khan |
| Vladimir Putin | Vladimir Putin |
| Defence policy | Defence policy |
| James Comey | James Comey |
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