Protests greeted US President Donald Trump during his first official visit to the United Kingdom. Last Friday, hundreds of thousands of people in the UK marched on the streets to make their disapproval of a wide range of Trump policies known. London alone saw a crowd that the organiser joked was ‘larger than Trump’s inauguration.’ The protesters, which included Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, criticised Trump over his policies on Palestine, climate change, refugees, migrants, Muslims and his well-known misogyny. This is the kind of unity that has rarely been seen against imperialist policies since the protests against the Iraq war in 2003. However, Trump’s arrival also emboldened the Far Right in UK, which took out pro-Trump and pro-white supremacist protests. This was another confirmation of Trump’s real audience – and how divided the world his policies would create will be. Politicians who cosy up to Trump must know that his presence provides a real risk at home of giving power to fascists.
The visit itself has been a diplomatic disaster with Trump criticising British Prime Minister Theresa May for continuing to seek a relationship with the European Union after Brexit – alienating both the British PM and European allies. Later, true to form, Trump claimed that the interview by a British tabloid was ‘fake news.’ The Trump visit seems to have affected May’s already shaky government. Trump’s presence compromises stability in the UK and Europe. No one could claim that May had not been warned. Massive protests had been promised when May extended an invitation in January 2017. This was a visit that confirmed that the US cannot be held as a reliable European ally anymore – and, for the rest of the world, this is a good thing. Europe freed from the shackles of US influence could offer much more to global policymaking. It has kept the deal with Iran and has been traditionally been more critical of Israel. The trouble is that the temptation to cosy up to the US is something European politicians find hard to ignore – whether out of habit or their interlinked material interests. In the UK, British PM Theresa May rolled out the red carpet for Trump, despite Trump doing everything possible to undermine her and her government. Political leaders will continue to cosy up to Trump, unless the protests seen on the streets in the UK follow Trump around the world. It is the streets of the United Kingdom that offered hope as Trump toured its royal castles and military academies.
