The pageantry of a state occasion is something Joanna Chin usually enjoys. She stood on Thames Street in Windsor, outside the castle, to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday and Harry and Megan’s wedding. Will she come out for President Trump?
“I can’t stand the man,” she said. “It’s difficult to even believe it’s happening – that somebody like that can be president of the United States. He’s dangerous.”
“Having said that, we can’t afford to fall out with America, so there’s that balance between what we believe and what’s the most expedient thing to do to protect the interests of the country. Will I come out to watch him? No.”
Keir Starmer’s offer of a royal invitation for a second state visit is as unprecedented as Trump’s 10-minute tirade at Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House. But even before the Oval Office meltdown, Britons were both sceptical and resigned about the presidential visit.
There were calls from the SNP and the Scottish Greens to cancel the trip. In the letter that Starmer gave to Trump, King Charles invited the president to Balmoral or Dumfries House as an aperitif to a grander occasion, probably involving Windsor. On Saturday afternoon it was revealed that Zelenskyy would see the king first, however – later on Sunday while he is in London for Starmer’s European defence summit.
Trump’s first state visit in June 2019, hosted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, ended two days before Theresa May stepped down as prime minister. How did Starmer’s White House performance go down with people in Windsor on Friday?
Simon Pitt, a Starmer fan, said it “all seemed to go very well – he didn’t fall into any traps or look stupid, and you never know how it’s going to go in the lion’s den.”
Below the castle, Pat Simpson thought the prime minister “didn’t have any choice”. “He’s got a lot on his plate and he’s got to do things you don’t agree with,” she said.
Tony, her husband, a lifelong Labour supporter, said: “He’s got to; whether you like him [Trump] or not, America plays a large part in Britain’s economicand political life.”
But Chin, not a natural Labour supporter, said she felt Starmer “came across as incredibly wet, sucking up to Trump”.
Foreign policy is often a respite for prime ministers struggling domestically, and even solid supporters such as Pitt have been disappointed with the Labour government so far.
Spooked by Reform UK’s 26% opinion poll figures, Labour figures have spoken of becoming a more insurgent government, and last month Starmer told his cabinet “We can either be the disrupters or the disrupted”.
There are whiffs of how this approach might potentially appeal, with some in Windsor holding their noses to admit they felt that Trump had “got an awful lot done in three weeks”.
But a Trumpist approach would not work, according to research by More in Common and University College London’s Policy Lab. It found that, although about half the public had expected to see things get better within a year of Labour taking office, only 27% believe Starmer should be more like Trump. There is no appetite for “disruptive populism”, the researchers said.
“Too often, commentators assume the future belongs to the populist right,” said Marc Stears, UCL Policy Lab director. “Our research demonstrates that is far from obvious. There is an electorally significant constituency in Britain that wants change, not chaos; radicalism, not recklessness. The centre ground remains the crucial space in British politics, and despite all the noise and energy created by Trumpism, it is vital that we all remember that.”
Many of those 27% voted Reform UK last year, and they are at odds with the rest of public on many issues, including Ukraine. Nigel Farage said during the election campaign that Putin was given a reason to invade by Nato’s “ever-eastward expansion”.
It’s a vein of opinion popular among those of his supporters who want Russia to defeat Ukraine and agree with JD Vance’s suggestion in 2023 that US money was paying for Ukrainian yachts, and that he “didn’t care” what happened to Ukraine.
Most of the British public believe instead that Zelensky and Ukraine are fighting against invasion and war crimes, and Starmer accused Farage of “fawning over Putin” last week.
For some Americans in the UK, however, the Trump White House is uncomfortable viewing. Ella Barron, an American who was moving to Windsor from Brighton last week, said she hoped people would remember that “America is a big country with a lot of different political views”.
“I don’t think Keir Starmer should try to cosy up to Trump because, from what we’ve seen in the past, it wouldn’t be a politically beneficial thing to do,” she said.
Trump’s actions towards Canada show the UK should look for closer ties with the Commonwealth and Europe, she said. Will she watch if Trump comes to Windsor?
“I might, just because it will be very impressive,” she said.
“But I would like Trump not to destroy the US presidency as an institution. I’d like the institution of the presidency to still be respected outside of the US – not that I think he, as a person, deserves the pomp and circumstance.”
