“There’s a little bit of a false rumour out there,” Donald Trump told reporters in Davos yesterday. “So I just wanted to correct it.”
He’s a real stickler for accuracy, you see. The “false rumour” he was referring to concerns the idea that all might not be rosy between the US president and Theresa May.
“The prime minister and myself have had a really great relationship, although some people don’t necessarily believe that,” he insisted.
How ever did anyone get the idea that they were anything other than bezzies? Do you think it could have been when he retweeted videos by the far-right group Britain First, she said he was “wrong” for promoting the “hateful organisation” and he responded by telling her: “Don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom. We are doing just fine!”
But yeah, best friends now. Their body language yesterday was very warm and natural and May definitely wasn’t pulling a “OMG what’s he going to say now?” fixed smile.
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In fact the short press conference passed off without major diplomatic incident. Trump said that the US and UK were “joined at the hip” in their military co-operation, adding: “There’s nothing that would happen to you we wouldn’t be there to fight for you. You know that.”
It demonstrates the problem May has: when Trump invites Emmanuel Macron to the US it is billed as a snub by our closest ally, and then when he is nice to her she is criticised for cosying up to a racist.
So, having kissed and made up and likened her to Churchill, Trump’s thoughts have turned again to visiting Britain, which is still on the cards to happen this year. (It is only January.)
He tells ITV’s Piers Morgan he would “love” to visit. Challenged about his Britain First retweets, Trump replied: “Here’s what’s fair: if you’re telling me they’re horrible people, horrible racist people, I would certainly apologise if you would like me to do that.”
It is already being mocked in some quarters as a non-apology, but does for Trump to admit any fault is a rarity and suggests some deft diplomacy behind the scenes to at least try to dial down the opposition to the president visiting Britain.
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Under plans being actively considered by diplomats, the time spent in London by Trump would be kept to a minimum. And there would be a lot of helicopters, allowing him to wave to the cheering, adoring crowds below.
As I wrote in Monday’s Red Box, this includes arranging for the president to hold talks with May at Chequers, the PM’s country retreat, before taking tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle 30 miles away.
However a well-placed source who understands how these things work suggests that one option might be to combine the two meetings at one venue.
In 1970 the Queen made her first ever trip to Chequers in the Buckinghamshire countryside to meet Richard Nixon during his first state visit to Britain.
The US president was hosted by Ted Heath, and he told the newly elected prime minister that he wanted to “establish a close personal communication”.
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Nixon received such a warm welcome on that, and a subsequent trip to Chequers, that the US ambassador Walter Annenberg paid for a swimming pool to be installed as a “thank you”.
When Margaret Thatcher became prime minister she was so worried about the running costs that she had the pool’s heating switched off. “Perhaps Trump could put in a burger bar,” jokes a source.
However, with controversy still hanging over Trump, he could be reluctant to follow the same itinerary as the only US president to be forced to resign from office.