VOA常速英语:特朗普对英展开国事访问

On June 3rd, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will meet Queen Elizabeth II on a state visit after meeting her during Trump’s working visit to Britain last year. A state visit involves more pomp and pageantry, and the host country pays the costs. An invitation was extended after Trump took office, but was delayed due to a number of reasons including security. It was on again, off again, on again, off again. There is an enormous controversy surrounding a state visit for Donald Trump. 75 years after 150,000 allied troops pushed German forces from France, Trump will commemorate the D-Day invasion in Portsmouth and in Normandy France.

The president will attend a state banquet at Buckingham Palace and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May who is resigning two days after Trump leaves, over failure to reach a deal on Britain’s exit from the European Union. I would expect him to speak quite highly of May in his public appearances with her and wish her all the best, but I don’t think that there’s much depth to the relationship. I don’t think the two of them see eye-to-eye or have a pretty strong personal bond. Days before his departure, Trump said he may meet with Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, pro-Brexit politicians seeking to replace May. It’s not my business to support people, but I have a lot of respect for both of those men. Trump and May could still discuss major issues related to current U.S.-U.K. relationship, including negotiations on a trade deal and how to deal with Iran and China, the question of Huawei in particular, but Chinese investment more broadly where the US has taken a much more hardline approach than the U.K., and the question of confronting Iran, which the U.S. under the Trump administration has much more appetite for, than either the UK or France. Last year, more than a 100,000 people protested in London and elsewhere in Britain. This year, organizers say they expect similar numbers protesting against Trump’s policies including immigration and climate change.
Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News at the White House.