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Whether you love him or loathe him, an overseas visit from Donald Trump is never anything less than eventful.
Whether he’s alienating allies , boasting of a “very special bond” with tyrants or just looking really sinister in front of a glowing orb , the US president’s trips abroad inevitably make headlines.
Handshake standoffs, throwing sweets at other world leaders and appearing to misplace our very own Queen have all been among his past repertoire.
He is, a US state official once noted, like a “drunk tourist abroad … loud and tacky”.
Which should, at the very least, make next week’s state visit to the UK an interesting affair.
The leader of the free world will spend three days from Monday banqueting with the royal family, holding talks with Theresa May and (almost certainly) throwing about the word “tremendous” when looking to bluff through any question he doesn’t, to put it politely, have the detail on.
Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and puttingShow all 100 1 /100Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and US President Donald Trump walk to a joint news conference holding hands
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting People march holding anti-Trump signs in Edinburgh while the US. President is visiting Trump Turnberry Luxury Collection Resort in Scotland
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart from Glasgow Prestwick Airport
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump on the back
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting President Donald Trump waves whilst playing a round of golf at Trump Turnberry Luxury Collection Resort
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donut TrumpScotland United Against Trump demonstrators gather at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump plays a round of golf at Trump Turnberry
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting People march holding anti-Trump signs
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump waves form golf course
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump goes for a stroll
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump blimpA giant balloon depicting US President Donald Trump as an orange baby is launched as protesters gather in the Meadows, after taking part in the Scotland United Against Trump march through the streets of Edinburgh
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting U.S. President Donald Trump drives his golf buggy
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A Greenpeace protester flying a microlight passes over Donald Trump's resort in Turnberry
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump look at the media during their arrival on Air Force One at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Scotland United Against Trump demonstrators gather at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Security and police teams surround the perimeter of Trmup's golf course
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Scotland United Against Trump demonstrators
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Teams of police officers patrol the beach outside near Trump Turnberry Luxury Collection Resort
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Pro-Trump supporters demonstrate outside the US Embassy in support of President Donald Trump's visit to the UK, in London
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Scottish Labour leader, Richard Leonard speaks to crowd
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Ex-pat
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Demonstrators hold placards near the golf resort owned by US President
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protesters wear orange face makeup
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Pro-Trump supporters demonstrate outside the US Embassy in London
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump protestors on the beach near to the Trump Turnberry resort
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protestors against the UK visit of US President Donald Trump near Aberdeen
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A mounted police officer patrols anti-Trump rally
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump supporter Bill McGibbon outside his cottage near to the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Queen Elizabeth II and President Donald Trump inspect an honour guard at Windsor Castle
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Queen Elizabeth II stands with US President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, during their visit to Windsor Castle
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump walks ahead of Queen Elizabeth
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald and Melania Trump listen to the Coldstream Guards, play the US national anthem next to the Queen
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protesters in Windor
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump and first lady Melanie Trump are greeted by Queen Elizabeth II, during an arrival ceremony with the Guard of Honour at Windsor
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Queen Elizabeth II waits to greet US President Donald Trump as he arrives by helicopter
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Ed Miliband joins the march
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting PM and President
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protestors hold banners
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting UK meets US
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protests at Trump visit
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Trump and May
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protests at Trump visit
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protesters for the 'Stop Trump' Women's March gather in London
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May hold a joint press conference
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump and Theresa May attend a press conference
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Demonstrators protest against the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Prime Minister Theresa May walks with US President Donald Trump at Chequers
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump UK protest
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting First Lady, Melania Trump, tries her hand at bowls
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President and British Prime Minister at Chequers
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Demonstrator in Black Lives matter T-shirt
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Theresa May and Donald Trump enter Chequers
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protestors wearing Donald Trump and Theresa May paper mache heads join the protest in Butler's Cross
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting First Lady, Melania Trump, looks on as Philip May tries bowls
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting American Psycho poster
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting First Lady, Melania Trump, reacts as she tries her hand at bowls
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump protest in London
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Theresa May, Donald Trump with US ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson and British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at the start of the bilateral meeting at Chequers
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Melania Trump and Philip May wave flags
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump is greeted by Theresa May
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting The US First Lady Melania Trump, helps children to make poppies
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting The handshake between Donald Trump and Theresa May
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Demonstrators raise a six meter high effigy of Donald Trump
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump stands alongside Theresa May after he arrived for talks at Chequers, her country residence in Buckinghamshire
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A six-meter high cartoon baby blimp of Donald Trump hovers next to the statue of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting First Lady, Melania Trump, accompanied by Philip May, meets schoolchildren and British Army veterans
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A lookalike of former British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson stands next to a person in a cage wearing a money suit and a mask of Donald Trump
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald Trump gestures as he prepares to board Marine One to depart the US ambassador's residence Winfield House
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Demonstrators stand in front of a blimp portraying US. President Donald Trump, in Parliament Square
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting The Prime Minister hosts President Trump and First Lady Melania at a black tie dinner with business leaders at Blenheim Palace
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting The Prime Minister, accompanied by husband Philip, arrive with President Trump and First Lady Melania to a black tie dinner with business leaders at Blenheim Palace
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting The Prime Minister and President Trump are seen holding hands, not for the first time
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting President Donald Trump pumps his fist during his arrival, with first lady Melania Trump, in Regent's Park
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Demonstrators bang pots and pans as they gather at the US ambassador residence in Regent's Park
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump walk in the grounds of the US ambassador's residence Winfield House
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A demonstrator protests next to the specially erected fence surrounding the US ambassador's residence
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A motorcade arrives at Winfield House in London, the residence of American Ambassador to the to the Court of St James's
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A presidential helicopter lands in the grounds of the US ambassador residence in Regent's Park
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protesters chant and wave placards during a demonstration outside Winfield House
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting he Marine One helicopter carrying US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump flies past the BT Tower
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Protesters chant and wave placards during a demonstration outside Winfield House
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump disembark from Air Force One after arriving in the UK
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US First Lady Melania Trump and US President Donald Trump are greeted by US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Trump and Melania Trump leaving Stansted Airport
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting An honour guard stands to receive US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Donald and Melania
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox on their arrival
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US Marine Corps Osprey aircraft taking off
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Us President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump disembark from Air Force One
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Trump and Melania Trump arrive at Stansted
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting A giant 'Human Rights Nightmare' banner is unfurled by Amnesty International activists across the river Thames on Vauxhall Bridge to protest against the visit of US President Donald Trump
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump waves as he arrives in the UK
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting An armed police officier waits on the tarmac at Stansted Airport
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting US President Donald Trump and Melania Trump arrive at Stansted Airport
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Donald Trump UK visit: protests, placards and putting Armed police await the arrival of US President Donald Trump at Stansted Airport
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But what else might we expect from this spectacle? Here’s The Independent ’s cut-out-and-keep guide to the non-scheduled incidents which may grab the headlines.
Content warning: Nigel Farage.
1. A breach of royal protocol
“It was supposed to last for 15 minutes,” said Mr Trump of taking tea with the Queen during last July’s visit to the UK . “But it lasted for, like, an hour. Because we got along.”
Whether this extended brew-drinking session really happened has never been confirmed by Buck House. But, if it did, one can only hope the monarch used the time to offer a few tips on royal courtesy.
In that 2018 trip, the Donald managed to breach it not once – by not bowing upon meeting – but twice by then walking in front of the Queen as she inspected a guard of honour.
Poor form.
Although, to be fair, Mr Trump’s not the first president to be caught out by the formalities.
In 2011, Barack Obama tried to toast her majesty while the national anthem was playing – only to be met with a steely unimpressed gaze from the woman herself.
2. Brexit ‘advice’
At this point, one might reasonably argue, the UK needs all the help on Brexit it can get.
But then, accepting advice from a man who has managed to bankrupt four businesses is, one might also reasonably argue, a risky proposition.
Nonetheless, it seems unlikely Mr Trump will be able to resist wading into the issue and offering the benefit of his acumen.
Last time round, at an awkward press conference with Theresa May, he told assembled reporters: “I gave her a suggestion and I think maybe she found it too brutal. I gave her a suggestion, not advice. I can fully understand why she thought it might be tough.”
That’s probably code – although not really – that he sees no particular qualms with a no-deal divorce.
3. A barely coherent rant
Donald Trump's oratory style could perhaps, generously, be described as unpredictable.
Which is to say, of course, when he starts speaking on a particular subject, no-one knows exactly where he's going to end up. Including, one suspects, himself.
Whether it's ranting about uranium at a press conference ("It's a thing called nuclear weapons and other things, like lots of things are done with uranium including some bad things") or going off on tangents about the Venezuela crisis ("That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world which is a very important part of the world...So I think the process is playing out – very very big tremendous protests"), his opinions, critics suggest, often appear to be forming in real time, as he speaks.
Expect Theresa May to experience a few excruciating moments when the pair share a joint press conference on Tuesday.
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far...Show all 30 1 /30Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Threatening to shut down Twitter after being fact-checked After the president tweeted that voting by post would be "substantially fraudulent", Twitter attached a warning label to his tweet and referred readers to a site which explained how the claim was "unsubstantiated". Trump then said Twitter was "stifling free speech" and that he may have to shut it down, something which he would not have the power to do
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Flippantly dismissing a serious allegation of sexual assault When author E Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her, the president responded: “Number one, she’s not my type. Number two, it never happened. It never happened, OK?"
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Insulting the Mayor of London as he landed in London Just before touching down at Stansted Airport for his state visit, Trump took time out to @ the London mayor Sadiq Khan on twitter. He said that Khan has done a "terrible job"as mayor and that he is a "stone cold loser"
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Taking plenty of "Executive Time" The president's official schedule sets aside the hours from 8 to 11am daily for "Executive Time". Further intermittent periods of "Executive Time" are scheduled throughout any given day, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. His duties in these hours have not been officially disclosed, though Axios reports that he spends them watching TV, reading the newspapers and tweeting
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Shutdown the government for over a month in an effort to secure funding for his wall With Mexico declining to pay for the wall, the president has faced difficulty in raising the required $5bn at home. Due to his demand that the money for the wall be included in the budget, and Congress's refusal, the government partially shut down on 22 December 2018. It remained shut for over a month, the longest period in history
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Joking about the Nazi occupation of France to President Macron In this tweet from 13 November 2018, the president mocks Emmanuel Macron's suggestion of a "true, European army" by invoking the conflict between France and Germany in the world wars
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Railing against the Mueller investigation The president has repeatedly claimed that the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, is a "rigged witch hunt"
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting a US intelligence report on Russian meddling in the presence of Vladimir Putin In the press conference that followed his landmark meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Trump stated that he saw no reason why Russia would have meddled in the 2016 US election. This contradicted a 2017 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence that found evidence of Russian interference in favour of Trump
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Contradicting his contradiction of a US intelligence report on Russian meddling Following furious backlash in the US, the president claimed that he meant to say that he saw no reason why it would not have been Russia who meddled in the 2016 US election. As to why he would have intended to use such bizarre phrasing, he did not comment
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Colouring in the US flag wrong The president coloured in the US flag wrongly during a visit to a children's hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He added a blue stripe where in tradition, and statute, there have been only white and red stripes
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing a Secretary of State over Twitter The president announced on Twitter that he was appointing Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, much to the surprise of then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Quoting a catchphrase from a reality TV show when discussing police brutality While addressing the issue of black athletes not standing for the national anthem in protest of police brutality, the president made reference to his catchphrase from reality TV show "The Apprentice": you're fired!
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Calling African nations "S***hole Countries" Ever one for diplomacy, the president reportedly referred to African nations as "s***hole countries". Asked to confirm this when meeting with Nigeria's President Buhari, Trump stated that there are "some countries that are in very bad shape".
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Defending Russian President Vladimir Putin Trump appeared to equate US foreign actions to those of Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Asking for people to 'pray' for Arnold Schwarzenegger At the National Prayer Breakfast, Trump couldn’t help but to ask for prayers for the ratings on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s show to be good. Schwarzenegger took over as host of “The Apprentice” — which buoyed Trump’s celebrity status years ago
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Hanging up on Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull Early in his presidency, Trump reportedly hung up the phone on Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull after the foreign leader angered him over refugee plans. Mr Trump later said that it was the “worst call” he had had so far
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... The 'Muslim ban' Perhaps one of his most controversial policies while acting as president, Trump’s travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries has bought him a lot of criticism. The bans were immediately protested, and judges initially blocked their implementation. The Supreme Court later sided with the administration’s argument that the ban was developed out of concern for US security
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Praising crowd size while touring Hurricane Harvey damage After Hurricane Harvey ravaged southeastern Texas, Trump paid the area a visit. While his response to the disaster in Houston was generally applauded, the president picked up some flack when he gave a speech outside Houston (he reportedly did not visit disaster zones), and praised the size of the crowds there
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... 'Little Rocket Man' During his first-ever speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump tried out a new nickname for North Korea leader Kim Jong-un: Rocket Man. He later tweaked it to be “little Rocket Man” as the two feuded, and threatened each other with nuclear war. During that speech, he also threatened to totally annihilate North Korea
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Attacking Sadiq Khan following London Bridge terror attack After the attack on the London Bridge, Trump lashed out at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, criticising Khan for saying there was “no reason to be alarmed” after the attack. Trump was taking the comments out of context, as Khan was simply saying that the police had everything under control
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming presenter Mika Brezinkski was 'bleeding from the face' Never one not to mock his enemies, Trump mocked MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, saying that she and co-host Joe Scarborough had approached him before his inauguration asking to “join” him. He noted that she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” at the time, and that he said no
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming the blame for Charlottesville was on 'both sides' Trump refused to condemn far-right extremists involved in violence at 'the march for the right' protests in Charlottesville, even after the murder of counter protester Heather Heyer
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Retweeting cartoon of CNN being hit by a 'Trump train' Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a Trump-branded train running over a person whose body and head were replaced by a CNN avatar. He later deleted the retweet
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Tweeting about 'slamming' CNN Trump caught some flack when he tweeted a video showing him wrestling down an individual whose head had been replaced by a CNN avatar. Trump has singled CNN out in particular with his chants of “fake news”
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Firing head of the FBI, James Comey Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey landed him with a federal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election that has caused many a headache for the White House. The White House initially said that the decision was made after consultation from the Justice Department. Then Mr Trump himself said that he had decided to fire him in part because he wanted the Russia investigation Mr Comey was conducting to stop
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Not realising being president would be 'hard' Just three months into his presidency, Trump admitted that being president is harder than he thought it would be. Though Trump insisted on the 2016 campaign trail that doing the job would be easy for him, he admitted in an interview that living in the White House is harder than running a business empire
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Accusing Obama of wiretapping him Trump accused former president Barack Obama of wire tapping him on twitter. The Justice Department later clarified: Obama had not, in fact, done so
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Claiming there had been 3 million 'illegal votes' Trump was never very happy about losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.8 million ballots. So, he and White House voter-fraud commissioner Kris Kobach have claimed that anywhere between three and five million people voted illegally during the 2016 election. Conveniently, he says that all of those illegal votes went to Clinton. (There is no evidence to support that level of widespread voter fraud.)
Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Leaving Jews out of the Holocaust memorial statement Just days after taking office, Trump’s White House issued a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but didn’t mention “jews” or even the word “jewish” in the written statement
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Donald Trump's least presidential moments so far... Anger over Inauguration crowd size Trump’s inauguration crowd was visibly, and noticeably, smaller than that of his predecessor, Barack Obama. But, he really wanted to have had the largest crowd on record. So, he praised it as the biggest crowd ever. Relatedly, Trump also claimed that it stopped raining in Washington at the moment he was inaugurated. It didn’t, the day was very dreary
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4. The return of The Blimp
It’s big, it’s orange, and it’s currently stored in a “suitcase in Kentish town”.
But the group behind the infamous Trump baby blimp says it hopes to fly it over London again this year.
The 20ft inflatable – a lookalike of the man himself, albeit a lookalike wearing a nappy – was sent into the capital’s airspace to protest against the president’s last visit.
Now Kevin Smith, coordinator with the Stop Trump coalition group, says the balloon will be raised again if authorities grant permission and if the public raises £30,000 for charities which “push back against the politics of hate and division”.
Assuming both those things happen, it will fly in Parliament Square on Tuesday when there are planned…
5. Mass Protests
Obviously.
An estimated 100,000 people joined what was called a “carnival of resistance” in London during Mr Trump’s last visit, while thousands more demonstrated in other cities across the UK.
Now similar numbers are expected to take to the streets on Tuesday.
“We will make it clear to the British government that it’s not OK to normalise Trump’s agenda and fear it has sparked,” the Stop Trump campaign group said.
One to look out for during the demonstrations: a 16ft talking robot of the Donald sitting on a gold toilet is being shipped to the UK especially for the protests.
“I can’t stand the guy,” said Don Lessem, the Philadelphia native who paid $25,000 (£20,000) to have the robot made. “I decided something funny, as offensive as possible, would work.”
6. A cheeky round of golf
The schedule looks, as is the way of these things, unremittingly packed.
Monday is banqueting with the Queen; Tuesday talks with Theresa May; and Wednesday will see Mr Trump travel to Portsmouth for a D-Day anniversary ceremony.
But if there’s one thing the president appears to have a talent for, it’s digging out time for a quick 18 holes.
And why not? Even the leader of the free world’s handicap won’t improve itself.
7. A meeting with Nigel Farage
Possibly on the golf course?
The two are, famously, good friends, with Mr Farage speaking at an election rally for Mr Trump in 2016, and then becoming one of the first people to see him following his successful campaign.
You remember? There was that picture of the two of them, plus fawning entourage, at Trump Tower? Someone called them The Brex Pistols.
The president, for his part, has called the former Ukip leader a “good guy” and praised his “big victory” in the recent European parliament elections.
When asked if the pair would meet during this state visit, Mr Trump said they “may” do.
Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events 8. An endorsement in the Tory leadership race
He's not even arrived yet - and, actually, he's already sort of done this.
In an interview with The Sun, Mr Trump called fellow comb-over aficionado Boris Johnson an "excellent" potential leader who would do a "very good" job.
“Maybe it’s not my business to support people,” he'd said previously (it's definitely not), “but I have a lot of respect for [Boris].”
Such open interference in the domestic affairs of another country is, for world leaders, unambiguously frowned upon.
But perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised at the comments. Among Mr Trump’s most naked past interventions have been telling Germany it relies too heavily on Russian energy, suggesting France needs to get a better grip on terrorism, and retweeting an anti-immigration post by a British far-right activist.
Expect him to double-down on his Boris bromance once he's here.
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