With the unique dynamics of the Trump presidency we will never know. Certainly there is much to criticise about the decision to build a fortress style new U.S. embassy off the beaten track south of the Thames at Nine Elms. The money and the location should both have been a no no at every level, so on those grounds no wonder Trump does not want to cut the ribbon. Even the lure of lunch with the Queen, a special honour for a working rather than State Visit, was evidently not enough.
But then again the UK is Washington’s closest ally. But is it? Trump is by far the most unpopular President, in the UK, to occupy the White House since anyone here took an interest in who the American president actually was. There would undoubtedly be hostile demonstrations which would be widely reported across world media, especially social media. The two countries are at odds over Climate Change, Jerusalem and Iran. The UK has sided with the EU against the US on all three. Then there was the outcry over the re-tweet and the double slap down from May. Only yesterday the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain and the EU met with their Iranian counterpart to reaffirm their support for the Iran nuclear deal and urging Trump to do the same. At the press conference afterwards Boris Johnson not only backed the deal, but challenged the US to come up with a better and acceptable alternative if it did not like it. This is a new kind of special relationship. One in which the UK is willing to oppose the US, not just once, but three times on the trot. And not just in private, but in the glare of publicity on the world stage.
Clearly this cannot be satisfactory and there are fences to mend. When the repair process will start depends on Trump. In an election year when much depends on the outcome of the mid-terms in November, Trump will do nothing to give Democrats ammunition to advance in the polls. In his hypersensitive image consciousness, angry crowds waving placards ‘Trump Go Home’ would not be good. In truth I doubt the average American voter would care tuppence or see the clips. The State Visit remains on the agenda for sometime, but sometime is not yet.