President and public do not mix in Britain – why Donald Trump stayed away

President Barack Obama had just finished a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron when they made a detour, visiting a school in South London where they rolled up their sleeves and hired two students in one table tennis match. 19659006] The version of ping-pong diplomacy in 2011 did not result in a win at the table – Obama later said the students were "whipping" us.

But the unofficial photo served a political purpose – presenting the two leaders as close partners in touch with the everyday lives of ordinary British people.

Such cultural moments have long been a staple of overseas travel for American presidents determined to promote democratic values ​​and openness to the world. George W. Bush shared the fish and chips with Tony Blair at the Dun Cow Pub in 2003, and Bill Clinton went sightseeing and dined with Blair at a local restaurant in 1997.

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Not so much for President Donald Trump, who pursued a radically different approach during his travels abroad, including in Britain during last week. Following a formal itinerary limited to working sessions with Prime Minister Theresa May and a tea ceremony with Queen Elizabeth II, Trump carefully avoided interacting with the general public

Aids have stated that the timetable had been intentionally designed to keep the president away from the mass events in London that welcomed his arrival. In an interview with a British tabloid, Trump has sacked May and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, and has taken a fighting tone with his American allies since coming to power.

But Trump has also largely avoided public events. On weekends, he is cloistered in his private golf club in Turnberry, Scotland. In comparison, during his trip in 2011, Obama drank a pint of beer at a local pub in Moneygall, Ireland, where he had traced his ancestral maternal roots, and delivered an outdoor speech at Trinity College Dublin [19659018]. when they go abroad, they are trying to win hearts and minds for the democratic ways of the United States, so they are still in seller mode, "said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. "Trump is trying to break down institutions and orchestrate a great realignment of power politics, but he does not want to sell [other countries] how wonderful their culture is."

Past Presidents have used various tactics on traveling abroad to interact with the public for different purposes. They delivered speeches at universities, held public meetings, visited historic sites and met with civil society groups to promote human rights.

Bush's elders remember the 43rd president attending the Beijing church. Tokyo restaurant with the former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and see a cultural dance in the country of Eastern Europe of Georgia.

"Every place we went, we always tried to do something to give it the local cultural experience." said a former Bush aide who helped coordinate his travels.

The goal was to "dispel some of the America-centric perception that aliens had of us and show respect for local culture". the condition of anonymity because his current job did not allow him to speak officially.

On his first overseas trip last year to Saudi Arabia, Trump and his associates, including Secretary of State Rex Tillers Wilbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce and Trade, received a traditional dance of the ardah sword, producing images of Trump wobbling awkwardly with his hosts.

But the ceremony – limited to men and held before a banquet dinner with King Salman at the Murabba Palace in Riyadh was not the kind of widely inclusive event that an ordinary Saudi Arabian S & D. would wait to participate.

Although Bush took part in an ardah dance in 2008, he also met entrepreneurs, including women. During his trip, Trump delegated a meeting with women entrepreneurs to his daughter Ivanka, who is a White House advisor.

Tommy Vietor, a former White House spokesman under Obama, said that "showing another side of the president as being closer to the goal of wanting the US to be popular overseas It helps us advance our priorities and convince foreign governments to support our initiatives. "

Vietor notes that Trump, a Promoter and star of reality TV before entering the White House, he has the ability to "charm people".

"If he was to try, he could win a lot of people," says Vietor. Trump has not tried to try to broaden his support base; he's rather focused on maintaining the intensity of his most devoted followers. To this end, Trump used trips abroad to intimidate his allies in order to spend more on mutual defense treaties, harassing them on trade imbalances and criticizing them for immigration policies. He considers it too lenient

"Trump campaigned as a populist against the ruling elite", but on his travels abroad, he clearly savored the pitfalls of the visits to the country. Extravagant state. He called his visit to Beijing, where Chinese President Xi Jinping greeted him with a military show and a private performance of Beijing Opera in the Forbidden City, one of the most popular days. rewarding from his presidency

that no one has ever been treated in the history of China, "Trump boasted of Xi. Trump also played golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a country Club in Tokyo and joined the French President Emmanuel Macron during a military parade in Paris on Bastille Day last year, returning home to present his own show.On the other hand, Trump acknowledged that the London protests, including a balloon depicting the president as an infant wearing diapers that flew over Parliament Square, had persuaded him to spend most of his trip in Great Britain. Brittany

.] "I suppose when he I have taken out airships to make myself uncomfortable, no reason for me to go to London, "Trump told Sun newspaper. "I loved London as a city, I have not been there for a long time, but when they make you feel bad, why would I stay here?"

The protests followed in Scotland, where Greenpeace 's paraglider buzzed over his head and the protesters chanted: "No trump, no KKK, no d & rsquo; Racist USA! " Saturday, Trump was playing golf.

Brinkley, the historian, suggested that Trump looked more like authoritarian rulers, like the Chinese Xi, who can "control the environment" around them.

Trump's decision not to mix with public "makes him look like the arrogant American who looks his nose at all strangers," said Brinkley. "He does not flatter Europeans, he uses trips abroad to feed the base more red meat."

– The Washington Post