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LONDON (Reuters) – When Donald Trump visits Britain next week, Prime Minister Theresa May will face a harsh reality: Brexit makes Britain more dependent than ever on an alliance with the most unpredictable U.S. president in living memory.
Sandwiched between a NATO meeting and a summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin, Trump's first visit to Britain as president is one of the most important junctures for Europe and the West since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
From Truthful Disparity to the Courts of the Kremlin and North Korea's Leader, Trump has delivered on his promise of a "unpredictable" U.S. foreign policy.
That Leaves May, Who Held Hands with Trump at the White House during his inauguration, in a difficult position as it relates to the United States to offset the disruption of leaving the EU on March 29, 2019 . (19659004) "The irony is that by leaving the EU, the United Kingdom will be useful to Washington as an ally but it will also need the United States much more, "said Jeffrey A. Stacey, a former State Department official in Obama's administration.
"So May has been thrown into the arms of the most unpredictable U.S. president in living memory," Stacey said.
Over 50,000 people have signed up for a protest on Trafalgar Square in central London against the Trump visit, which will include a meeting with Queen Elizabeth and possibly a round of golf at her turnberry race in Scotland.
Even taking account of Trump's penchant for deal making, the visit is likely to be heavy on rhetoric about an increased lopsided "special relationship" and short on specifics such as the details of a post-Brexit trade deal.
For supporters, Trump and Brexit offer the prospect of breaking free from what they see as obsolete institutions and rules that have weakened the United States and its allies relative to competitors such as China.
But for many British diplomats, Brexit marks the collapse of a 70-year British strategy of trying to balance European integration with a U.S. alliance based on blood, trade and intelligence sharing.
"May it be she really gotten away from the relationship so far?" Said one senior European diplomat in London, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"You Brits are leaving Europe Do you really want to jump into the arms of Donald Trump's America? And more importantly, do you have a choice? "The diplomat asked.
HOLDING HANDS
Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election shocked British diplomats in Washington and relations between May, a vicar's daughter, and Trump strained at times.
The enduring image of May's visit to the White House in January 2017, when she became the first foreign leader to meet the president after he took office, was Trump taking a hand at the steps of a White House colonnade.
But any good vibes from that time soon dissipated when Trump, the same day, announced the decision to draw a line of action.
Trump full speech to Britain, and 1.8 million people signed a petition saying the invitation should be canceled because he might embarrass the Queen.
Trump has repeatedly brewed British and other European diplomatic overtures, withdrawing from multilateral agreements on climate change, human rights, and a treasured deal to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for facelift sanctions .
Officials may insist that Britain still has the ability to influence Trump, an outlining a handling strategy that is appealing to his self interest, "planting the seed" of an idea and allowing him time to consider its merits.
But, we are going to have a good time, we are going to have a good time, and we are going to have a good time. Kim Jong Un
"We talk about Trump and Macron because it looks interesting with some upsides. We talk about Trump and Angela Merkel because it's 'difficult' said Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the U.S. and Americas program at the Chatham House think tank.
"Theresa May gets lost in all of that. "
Asked at last month 's G7 meeting in Canada whether Trump was a" good friend "to Britain, May said:" The United States and the United Kingdom are good friends. President Trump and I work together. "
But just hours after the meeting, he went on a joint venture on trade, equality and the environment that May and other G7 leaders had labored late into the night to agree.
Therein lies the difficulty for May.
"When he's here, he'll give, but I think when he walks away he'll be very quickly forget what the visit was about," Vinjamuri said.
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