Trump Can't Even Sneak Into Britain Like a Common Plague Rat

Screenshot/CNN

There has been a long ratcheting down of expectations for Donald Trump's first visit to Great Britain as president.

In April, the White House was forced to deny rumors that Trump was demanding a ride in Queen Elizabeth's gold-plated chariot during his first official state visit to Great Britain.

Then in June, after news outlets reported that activists planned to hold the largest demonstrations in British history if Trump visited, he told Prime Minister Theresa May that he would not come to Britain until the public was more supportive.

Then this weekend, the British press reported that Trump planned to visit one of his golf courses in Scotland sometime in the next couple of weeks, either on his way to or from the G-20 summit in Germany and Bastille Day celebrations in France. And while he was there, he would perhaps pop into Downing Street to see May, if it's not too much of a spot of bother.

Oops! Looks like it is a spot of bother after all. From The Guardian:

Donald Trump will not be making a surprise visit to his Scottish golf course in the next two weeks, the White House has said, as the threat of short-notice protests mounted in Britain.

[...]

Trump would be expected to come to Downing Street to meet the prime minister for informal talks as part of any such visit, though final confirmation would be likely to be given with just 24 hours’ notice to minimise the risk of disruption.

Yes, the risk of protesters disrupting the visit was so great, the White House planned to give Britain all of a 24-hour heads up as to whether or not Trump would stop by.

Usually, visits like this take weeks of planning, with lower-level meetings between government officials to discuss agendas and Secret Service and other security personnel meeting with their British counterparts to plan for every possible contingency. Trump's unpopularity makes that impossible.

So, we have gone from “I want a ride in the golden chariot” to “I'll visit when the public calms down” to “I can't even stop by a golf course I own in Scotland for a night on 24 hours' notice because so many people will show up to protest that it might make the crowds from the London Olympics looks small.”