‘I worked for Donald Trump – here’s how world leaders should deal with him’ | Politics | News
A former advisor to President Donald Trump has revealed what he has suggested to other countries when they have clashed with the controversial leader. John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Trump and a former US ambassador to the United Nations, was speaking as King Charles continues his first state visit to the USA.
The visit comes less than a year after Trumpโs own state visit to the UK, which was described early last year by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as โunprecedentedโ. It is these state visits that Mr Bolton has suggested other countries propose, if they have a surviving monarchy.
Speaking to The Times’ The Royals podcast, John Bolton said: โI have advised other countries that have monarchs that if they run into trouble with Trump they should really invite Trump for a state visit to meet their king or queen and have them come over here.
โWeโll see if it extends beyond the UK, Iโm not sure. It worked with the Emperor of Japan, also when Trump paid a state visit there when I served in the White House.โ
If Mr Bolton is correct, this would mean the likes of Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Belgium have an extra card to play as Trump becomes increasingly antagonistic towards Europe.
In recent months, there has been concern about Trumpโs NATO-sceptic stance, as he has raised questions about how much America spends on the alliance compared to other European members.
This growing divide between the USA and Europe, particularly the UK, has left world leaders scrambling both to appease Trump and to prepare for a future in which America may no longer guarantee their security.
As a result, there has been significant interest in what impact King Charles and Queen Camillaโs visit to the USA will have on what remains of the so-called Special Relationship between the UK and USA.
Ahead of the Kingโs visit, a new poll suggested that nearly half of Britons believe there is no โSpecial Relationshipโ, with 48 percent of those surveyed by Ipsos saying it does not exist
Speaking about the findings, Ipsos Senior Director of UK Politics Gideon Skinner suggested there had been a major shift in British attitudes towards the US over the past year.
Mr Skinner said: โBritish attitudes towards the relationship with the US have seen significant fluctuation over the last 12 months, but since the start of the Iran conflict belief in the special relationship has deteriorated rapidly to a new low.
โAgainst this backdrop, public opinion towards King Charlesโ state visit is split, with as many in favour as against. This may partly reflect uncertainty over its likely impact, with 4 in 10 believing that it will make little difference to the state of the US-UK relationship.
โHaving said that, very few think it will have a clearly negative effect, and 1 in 3 are more hopeful โ especially among Conservative and Reform UK voters, who are more supportive of the visit in the first place.โ
