On Saturday, Donald Trump announced plans for tariffs on many European countries. Trump was explicit in his rationale: the tariffs would be levied until Greenland was given to him in some way. Trump absolutely is that f–king stupid and evil, as are the Americans who voted for him and support him still. Well, in any case, this has become a major sh-tstorm in the UK for many reasons. One of those reasons? King Charles is supposed to make his first state visit (as king) to the US in April. Trump loves the British royals and he believes that they like him and respect him. It would be a huge blow to his ego if Charles cancels the state visit. Well, the Telegraph got a big briefing from Downing Street and Buckingham Palace about how the state visit is still on the schedule, but it’s vaguely TBD.

Charles’s dilemma: Greenland is a territory of Denmark, and has its own King. The Danish royal family are old friends of the British, and Charles III will be well aware of the implications of being seen to ignore the threat to its sovereignty. Having soothed world leaders and calmed choppy waters on issues from Ukraine to trade and beyond, the King is now faced with making the highest-profile state visit in decades to meet one of the world’s most unpredictable presidents.

No suggestion of cancelation: There is no suggestion of cancelling or changing the itinerary yet, sources said on Tuesday, despite questions over whether the Royal family should be seen enjoying the company of a president whose capacity for threatening foreign territories appears to be growing. Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has argued that the UK “must not be a doormat for an extortionist, or reward Trump’s behaviour with the pageantry he craves”. The Republic campaign group, not unpredictably, argued: “Charles visiting Trump in the US will only play into Trump’s hands, and will make the UK look weak and servile.”

Downing Street’s statement: Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman, asked about it on Tuesday, said only that: “The UK-US relationship is built on 250 years of history and decades of unparalleled cultural links and defence and security collaboration. There is no relationship that has delivered more for the British people.” The visit, in other words, will go ahead until further notice.

Charles doesn’t want to be blamed if the visit is canceled: The King’s own thoughts on the matter remain a matter of royal discretion for now. He has played his part, sources say, in strengthening the US-UK relationship and has so far been happy to do so. Palace sources lament a “poor understanding” of how state visits work, among those calling for the King to refuse to go. The monarch hosts or flies out to other heads of state on the advice of his government, they repeat; his personal opinions are neither here nor there. There are no plans to “deviate” from anything pencilled into the Buckingham Palace diary unless the Government decides otherwise, one said.

How Starmer uses Charles: The Government, for its part, is nervous of attempting leveraging the King too obviously – again – to soothe Mr Trump and coax him away from Greenland. There has been quiet frustration over the occasional clumsiness of how they have deployed the monarchy’s soft power: a highly flattering letter from Charles III to Mr Trump put in front of the cameras at the White House; the word “unprecedented” sprinkled like glitter over every press conference. Members of the Royal family, privately, are wary of pulling levers with the president, despite his well-documented admiration for them. They have been entertained by his visits, pleasantly surprised by his Windsor banquet speech and the geniality of his entourage, but have no wish to be responsible for shaping his policies.

The magnitude: The Government, the palace and the King himself all understand the magnitude of pulling out of a date with the US president. Threatening to do so would inflame an already volatile situation, one source says, at a time when calm conversation is needed more than ever. The idea of asking the King to work his diplomatic magic on Mr Trump over Greenland – trying to change his mind – is “absolutely not” being considered, another source told The Telegraph.

[From The Telegraph]

“The idea of asking the King to work his diplomatic magic on Mr Trump over Greenland – trying to change his mind – is ‘absolutely not’ being considered” – because it wouldn’t do any good. Even if Charles managed to smooth things over, Trump would just change his mind or that psycho Stephen Miller would sacrifice another three hobos and order an invasion of Greenland himself. I would imagine that Downing Street is simply kicking the can down the road here, knowing how quickly this situation can change because Trump is a demented madman in poor health. Basically, they’re not going to decide either way until March. And I genuinely hope their decision is to skip the state visit, regardless of whatever Trump’s fixation is in two months.

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