Askold Lozynskyj
There is no other way to explain Trump’s second official state visit to the United Kingdom at the personal invitation of King Charles III. Two of Trump’s major flaws aside from ignorance are arrogance and narcissism. The Prime Minister of the UK felt that a state visit would play to both those flaws.
The UK, frankly, the entire Western democratic world needs the power and wealth of the United States which today by virtue of Trump’s autocratic rule and the sycophancy of his subordinates belongs to Donald J. Trump, a man as suited to be in the White House as President as he is suited to be at the Kennedy Center as Chairman.
As to meetings with the king and other royalty, the initial feeling was that it was important that Trump and his entourage did not embarrass the United States of America. There were no substantive risks as royalty in the UK is not even symbolic of power, but a showcase for tourism.
The UK has a number of ridiculous showcases beginning with the royals and including such aberrations as the Church of England as a remnant of the royals. This is the Church of England predicated on the rule by the King of England who in the XVI century wanted to divorce his wife, but the Catholic Church would not concede so he killed his wife, which was probably more outrageous than simple divorce, and then instituted his own church which amazingly exists to date. I recall my visit to the UK in 2008, meeting with representatives of the Church and maintaining silence, when I really wanted to say: how do you justify your existence.
England’s royalty and its church are more embarrassing than the fact that England, the inventor of football (soccer) has not won the World Cup since the 1960s. It’s a good thing that the English generally have a wonderful sense of humor sometimes lost on their immediate neighbors the Scots, Welsh and Irish or even those whom they ruled once as an empire.
On the other hand and on a more serious note, the English people are a model for free discourse, which includes protests. Even the debates in Parliament are an example of free speech and expression. America’s revolution was a manifestation of that free speech and protest.
Trump was not able to circumvent those protests even though Starmer’s people did everything possible to shield the American president. Trump and America have behaved very badly during Trump’s tenure and the English people had to respond. Even the Epstein embarrassment was fuel for the fire.
This state visit was a very expensive undertaking for both sides, but in particular for the Brits. However, it has been said by many that the reason why the UK retains the semblance of meaningless royalty and explains it on a balance sheet is because it is income producing. People do go to the circus. So the cost of the pomp and circumstance could be disregarded, in particular if the Prime Minister gets what he is after in the long term.
So the question is whether anything was accomplished by the experiment. There is, of course, a caveat of wait and see. Nothing is ever achieved with Donald J. Trump, all agreements are meaningless, whether or not they are signed, until action is actually taken by Trump. Trump’s idea of a good deal is where he wins and the other side loses. But there are good deals for both sides.
Unfortunately, the press has reported nothing of consequence. On the subject of Ukraine, the biggest global conflict since World War 2, the BBC reported:
“An area where the pair were seemingly united was in condemning Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after Trump said earlier this week he could impose tougher sanctions on Russia if Nato allies meet certain conditions.
Starmer condemned recent Russian missile attacks that saw damage to the British Council building in Kyiv, and said the recent actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin were not those of someone who wants peace.
The US president said Putin had “really let me down”, admitting he thought solving the Russia-Ukraine war would be one of the easier conflicts to deal with.
He added, however, that he did not regret holding the peace summit in Alaska with Putin a few months ago, and he felt an “obligation” to help find an end to the war due to the enormous loss of life in the conflict.”
In the history of the world, how many world leaders have lamented that they were “really let down” by their obvious enemy, one who is responsible for the killing of millions? Nevertheless, Trump will remember this state visit and meeting the king. He will refer to that as yet another triumph in his long biography of accomplishments and the fact that no other American president has had two visits. That may work when Prime Minister Starmer seeks real support for issues that matter like the war in Ukraine.
Donald J. Trump is a Neanderthal, but the American people elected him. That is the sad reality, but the facts must be addressed. Good job, Keir!
September 19, 2025
