Kier Starmer said in an interview with ITV that he’s fed up because the energy bills of British families are swinging wildly “because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world.” In other words, the “special relationship” is on its last legs.
The crucial element would be whether our intelligence and military agencies trust each other, irrespective of the vagaries of transient politicians.
After all, it’s 70 years since a US President threatened deliberately to crash the UK government’s finances to stop a pointless war. The relationship survived that. Sort of.
That’s pretty opaque. Suez?
Sorry, yes, Suez.
You could say that what’s currently going on is the Hollywood big budget action remake of that particular1950s Ealing comedy.
I have to wonder why the hell Chuck is doing this. There has to be a political motivation, so I imagine pressure from Keir Starmer solely meant to placate the Orange Toddler in the face of deteriorating relations.
This also gave me a smile:
After the address, Trump and first lady Melania Trump will host the royal couple at the White House for a state dinner.
I imagine that both of this lovely tasteful couple will be meddling with the menu, so I hope that Chuck and Camilla like overdone cheeseburgers! Or maybe Trump will do the elegant thing he once did for a championship basketball team – invited them to the White House and served them cold Big Macs. 
Up until “recently”, the same was true for everyone else. (For “recently” defined as “I’m an old fart”.
When I was born, when you were old enough to buy your own clothes, you were old enough to choose your own name. And many people did. Not just the Cook County residents my Mother treated in out-patients, who chose a new name every time they skipped out on the rent, but also my RC girlfriend, who went by her confirmation name, and of course all the nuns at her school.
I didn’t need “Real ID” to open a bank account, get a tax refund, get medical care, get a job, go to school, or get a drivers licence. Here, we didn’t even have SSN, and applying for a government pension was on self-declaration.
Passports were more difficult, and I see that my Dad’s security clearance referenced his SSN, passport number and military service, but that’s about it: anyone else could use any name they chose.
Currently, even. I know a guy who goes by his middle name. I also, when I first started with the company I’m with now, had a Korean-American coworker who had the unfortunate luck to have been born with the name “Kim Jong-Un”. He went by “Joe Kim” instead and I can’t say I blame him.
Entirely a political motivation: State Visits aren’t organised on the personal whim of the head of state, or at short notice - there’s masses of prior calculation on both sides. Way back on Trump’s re-election, the exchange of visits would have been planned for, and both governments would have agreed then that this return visit would fit in with your 250th anniversary. That controversial events have happened since is another matter.
I imagine Charles is kept informed of what an idiot Trump is and will not be taken by surprise when Trump talks about how America kicked Great Britain’s ass 250 years ago. Because you know he is going to say something like that, in the most crude and insulting way possible, and then somehow try to take credit for it.
I expect the response would be a polite but ambiguous dismissive smile.
Nitpick, that fast food banquet was for a football team; the Clemson Tigers, who were the 2018 College Football Playoff national champions. What still has me shaking my head is that he’s standing there proud of that spread, not embarrassed that this is what he’s offering them. (And fast food burgers do not taste good after they’re allowed to get cold and congeal.)
Oh, undoubtedly. But HM has met Trump before and can be in no doubt as to what an idjit he is. As it happens, President Ford hosted Queen Elizabeth II at the White House in 1976 for a royal visit tied to the Bicentennial.
He pretty much has no choice. The monarch does whatever the government decides.
Does the fact that he’s able to make this trip indicate that he’s recovering from his health issues? I think he’s not been seen in public much over the past few months (or perhaps over a year?).
I recall a video clip I saw from Trump’s first go around. He and Charles were talking about climate change, and Trump was going on and on about the US’s beautiful weather and clean air. Charles was visibly stunned.
Not sure where you’ve heard that. He’s been doing his usual public engagements for months.
I’ve not been paying attention, though if you’re in the UK you may hear more reporting of his comings and goings than I do here in America.
Okay then, why does the “government” want him to do this? WHO specifically thinks this visit will benefit the UK and how? Specifically. And how would canceling the visit harm the UK?
The picture of Charles acting normal and showing respect to trump, a would-be king, convicted criminal, and insult to the presidency makes me
Well, Charles is not a would-be king because one of his ancestors was, the fact that his family’s crimes have been legitimized by a almost thousand years of tradition doesn’t give him much moral high ground there.