Donald Trump Has Left The UK – Here’s What The Hell Just Happened
Before Donald Trump had even landed in the UK, he’d called Meghan Markle “nasty”, branded London’s mayor a “stone cold loser” and waded into the Tory battle for the next prime minister.
Amid all the pomp and ceremony of his controversial visit, which was met with protests across the country, there were multiple opportunities for the president to produce one of his characteristic gaffes.
He met the entire Royal family, navigated the serious commemorations for D-Day, all while the political landscape raged behind him as the Tory leadership hopefuls all jostling for an endorsement.
So it was a pleasant surprise when the bulk of the US president’s state visit to Britain passed without incident.
Well, as in all things when it comes to Donald Trump, relatively speaking, that is.
The wheels of Air Force One hadn’t even touched the runway at Stansted when the president announced his imminent arrival with this adversarial tweet about the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
It came after Khan used an op-ed article to describe Trump as “a 21st Century fascist”.
However, most Brits were distracted from the spat by a massive penis that student and environmentalist Ollie Nancarrow had etched into the English countryside to mark the US president’s arrival.
Trump hadn’t even had time to sort his hair out before he was pounced upon by Jeremy Hunt, but that didn’t stop having another go at, you guessed it, Sadiq Khan.
Hunt, who is a candidate in the Tory leadership race, said Trump voiced his “strong views about the Mayor of London”.
09:30 – The ‘tremendous crowds of well wishers’
As the substantial presidential motorcade made its way into central London, Trump noticed what would become a recurring theme over the course of the next three days.
“Tremendous crowds of well wishers and people that love our Country,” he wrote on Twitter of his reception in London. “Haven’t seen any protests yet but sure the Fake News will be working hard to find them.”
But there was one problem – the streets were largely empty as he drove through the capital, as evidenced by numerous pictures of the route.
One of the more awkward moments of Trump’s UK visit in July last year was the moment he walked in front of the Queen, who had to point him in the right direction.
But this time, the US president was welcomed by the Royal family to Buckingham Palace and the whole thing passed without a hitch.
Well, almost. Trump was greeted by the Queen on the West Terrace of Buckingham Palace, her official London residence, but their handshake was a bit of a shambles, with some people pointing out it resembled more of a fist bump.
