Trump’s reunion with May caps allies’ dwindling ties

Bloomberg

President Donald Trump’s meetings in the UK with Prime Minister Theresa May next week likely will end the leaders’ relationship the same way it began: with awkward attempts to overcome a lack of personal chemistry.
May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after he was sworn in as president. He’ll become the last foreign leader to visit her before she resigns as head of the Conservative Party.
Unlike the close partnership between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, Trump and May increasingly have been at odds on issues including immigration, trade and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Despite the president briefly taking the prime minister’s hand on her January 2017 White House visit, the relationship between the two leaders lacked any personal connection. Trump has hinted he may even meet with her political rivals while he’s in Britain.
Trump’s second trip to the UK as president is built around a state visit with Queen Elizabeth and official commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion during World War II. As with his first visit, Trump will be greeted by protesters in London who plan to fly an inflatable version of the president that’s orange and wearing a diaper.
Given that May plans to step down next week, the prospects for substantive negotiations over key differences appear remote.
“This is a caretaker government and May is seen as a weakened leader,” said Rachel Rizzo, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
American officials downplayed the chance of a significant breakthrough on any of the topics Trump and May will discuss, including the US effort to convince the UK and other allies to freeze Huawei Technologies Co out of new 5G broadband networks. The trip is instead intended to lay groundwork for issues Trump will pursue with May’s successor, the officials told reporters.
The officials asked not to be identified as a condition of participation in the briefing.
Trump, said that he may meet with Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage. Johnson is the former foreign secretary who quit May’s cabinet over her Brexit compromise and stands a good chance of succeeding her as prime minister, while Farage’s fledgling Brexit Party embarrassed May’s Tories by topping the UK’s May 23 elections for the European Parliament.

Trump’s Friends
“Nigel Farage is a friend of mine, Boris is a friend of mine, they’re two very good guys, very interesting people,” Trump said. “I think they are big powers over there. Maybe it’s not my business to support people. But I have a lot of respect for both of those men.”
In an interview with the Sun, a London newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Trump said Johnson would be “excellent.” The president added that while he likes Johnson, his words shouldn’t be construed as a full endorsement.
A UK official said the government hadn’t received any request or notification from the US government about a meeting with Johnson or Farage.
“American presidents have traditionally, uniformly not tried to involve themselves in other democracies internal battles,” said Nicholas Burns, a professor of diplomacy and international relations at the Harvard Kennedy School and the former under secretary of State for political affairs under President George W Bush. “He ought to refrain from doing that in the UK.”
May and Trump are expected to discuss China, Russia, Syria and Iran in their talks, in addition to Huawei and trade, the UK official said.