Theresa May was one of the first world leaders to pay a visit to Washington to meet Trump after he was sworn in as the 45th President. During this meeting, she invited him to pay a State Visit to England. Donald Trump accepted the invitation and announced that he would visit England this fall. A state visit is a ceremonial visit and has great importance. Many at that time had opposed this invitation and both Houses Of Parliament in an unprecedented manner discussed the state visit. There were also demonstrations against the invitation to Trump and many in England wanted it canceled or, at least, postponed.
Now news has come that Trump may not make a state visit to England this year and, in that case, it would be pushed back to 2018. A pointer to this was the address of the Queen to both houses of parliament, where she made no mention of any state visit. CNN International has reported this news.
Agitation and petition against state visit
The mass of British people is not too happy with the policy of Donald Trump. He antagonized many by getting into a running feud with the London Mayor Sadik-Khan in the aftermath of the London terror attacks. Khan has called for the visit to be canceled. Earlier this year, over 1.8 million English men and women signed a petition to stop Trump coming to England as it would "cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen." The Queen took cognization of these protests and did not mention Trump during her address.
In the case of a state visit, the Queen always mentions it in her address. To add to the woes of Donald Trump the Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has also called for the cancellation of the state visit.
Visit likely to be next year
The chances of Trump making a state visit this year look slim. In all probability, the British government will schedule it next year.
They will be hoping that tempers will cool down by then. Another aspect of this is the shaky ground of Theresa May who has just lost her mandate by calling for an election and squandering a comfortable majority. Most likely there will be a change in the Tory leadership by next year.
Trump has support
Trump has his supporters and the British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said that the US president will be welcomed to the UK "soon".
He further added that Trump will be accorded all the pomp and honor required. He said, "I think it's wholly right that the president should come."
As things stand, Trump won't be too happy at this postponement. He likes pomp and show and will now have to settle for a state visit at a later date.
