As an American, I beg Theresa May: cancel Trump’s state visit
Dear Prime Minister,
Watching you hold hands with Donald Trump shocked me to my core. I am by no means your biggest fan (I’m a Labour supporter and endorsed Jeremy Corbyn), but even I thought you were, at your core, a decent person. Never did I think I’d see the day you’d cosy up to a tyrant who looked to destroy the free world.
Yet here we are.
By now, you are painfully aware of just what the British people think of your decision to offer the Wotsit Warlord a state visit, with all the pomp and circumstance for which Britain is renowned. I get it — it’s typically in the UK’s strategic interest to have not just a working, but a friendly, relationship with the President of the United States.
But we do not live in typical times.
Prime Minister, the American resistance needs your help. We’ve seen the largest protests in American history and, more remarkably, seen them sustained, since Trump took the oath of office. We have made our presence known, and there are more of us than there are of them. We do not support this president, and we will defeat him. But we can’t do it alone.
I’m terrified for my country right now. Donald Trump has shown an utter disregard for democratic institutions. He instructs federal agencies under his control to ignore court orders. He violates ethics, norms, and the US Constitution without the faintest sense of remorse. He has ruined our relations with Mexico, with Iraq, and soon enough, he will ruin our relations with you.
Maybe it’ll come when he refuses to give you an equitable trade deal. Maybe it’ll come when he sides with Russia over Nato. Maybe it’ll come when he commits war crimes in Syria or starts a trade war with China or bombs Berlin because he doesn’t like the look of Merkel. I don’t know. But one day, he’s going to do something that you simply can’t abide by. And you will speak out. Yet if you continue on this current trajectory, the world will see you not only as a hypocrite, but as an accomplice.
Trump’s accomplice.
You’re between a rock and a hard place. I don’t envy you. I get it. I mean, on the one hand you’ve got to get this trade deal through, consider Britain’s security interests, and look for partners outside the European Union. On the other hand is everything your country fought against in the Second World War and has professed to stand for over the past three centuries.
But this isn’t a zero-sum game. You can still invite Donald Trump to Britain for all the diplomatic meetings you deem necessary. You can still have a working, even friendly, relationship with him. You can still advance Britain’s national interests, and the broader interests of Western democracy, while cooperating with this administration.
But that doesn’t mean you have to honour him. A state visit confers legitimacy on Trump’s abhorrent views and actions, both at home and abroad. It sends the signal that Britain approves of what the mango Mussolini is doing to minorities and to the basic liberties that are the cornerstone of democracy. It is an honour, a privilege — one that Donald Trump does not deserve and is completely unnecessary for diplomatic relations.
Cancelling Trump’s state visit — an honour no US President received until Ronald Reagan — but still inviting him to the UK would send a message that while Britain is a practical nation who will engage and cooperate with global leaders on matters of mutual interest. It would also send a message that as long as Trump continues on his current trajectory of authoritarianism, he is persona-non-grata in the mother of modern democracies.
It’s time to decide, Prime Minister, if Britain is an ally of the Trump administration of the American people. Please, stand up for democracy. Stand up for internationalism. Stand up for multiculturalism. Stand up for decency. We are doing it here in the United States, but we can’t do it alone. There are more of us than there are of them — 3 million more, at least — and we are fighting to save our republic. We are simply asking that you show us you’re on our side.
You have a unique opportunity to rise to the challenge. “Theresa the Appeaser” has been trending on Twitter for the last couple days, and if you’re not careful, it will be your moniker in history books. You don’t want that. Prime Minister, you’re better than that. You are, despite our ideological differences, a liberal democrat just like me. Just like most of the British and American publics.
And you know right from wrong.
Cancel Trump’s state visit. Rescind the invitation. This is a time for heroes, and in doing so you, Prime Minister, have a chance to become the leader of the free world. You have a chance to become the moral compass of democracies around the world. You have a chance to go down in history as the one who saved us all.
Sincerely,
Skylar Baker-Jordan
Chicago, Illinois, USA
