She's Used To Dealing With The Most Appalling Despots, Monsters, Crooks And Dictators - Updated

Who writes and sends the tweets that go out on the White House's official Twitter account? (Donald's personal account is @realDonaldTrump. We know he writes and sends that one himself, at least most of the time.) I'm not sure specifically but whoever they are, today they made a really stupid mistake. Consider this tweet, which was sent out this afternoon:

Here's the deleted tweet pic.twitter.com/m5rOdxNXys

— Tom Wright (@thomaswright08) July 14, 2018

As Tom Wright points out, the tweet has now been deleted. (As usual, however, screen shots live forever.) What's the problem with the tweet? POTUS and FLOTUS went from London to Scotland, which is actually one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom. (Northern Ireland, Wales and, of course, England, are the other three. For extra credit: Which of the four countries is not part of Great Britain? The answer is at the bottom of the post.) The Trumps didn't "depart the U.K." They just traveled to another part of it.

I recognize that the average non-Anglophile American-on-the-street might not know the four countries of the United Kingdom off the top of their head. Is it too much to expect the president's staff to know such things, especially after weeks of preparation for an important, high profile and symbolic visit to England? The incompetence (and carelessness) is just mind-boggling.

And how was that meeting with the Queen? I like this quote from CBS News:

"They actually have quite a lot in common," royal biographer Robert Hardman told "CBS This Morning" about Mr. Trump and the queen. "They both got Scottish mothers, they both own fairly large parts of Scotland - in her case Balmoral [and] in his case two golf courses - and she's used to dealing with the most appalling despots, monsters, crooks, dictators. I think they're going to get on great." (Read the story here.)

Which country is part of the United Kingdom but not part of Great Britain? Northern Ireland.

Saturday morning update: Donald was his usual self-absorbed, misogynistic and awkward self while walking with the Queen:

I’m not a monarchist by any stretch of the imagination but this is such an insult to Britain. Absolutely clueless, classless, thoughtless, lacking in any dignity and without a shred of respect. pic.twitter.com/RBFXe4yZ9H

— Matthew McGregor (@mcgregormt) July 13, 2018

Sunday morning, update #2: Does Trump know what the United Kingdom is? Does he know the difference between the UK and Great Britain? Based on this interview with Piers Morgan, I'd say that, as usual, Trump doesn't have a clue:

[Morgan] ‘The sceptic in me would say: ‘What is the incentive for America to do a great deal with the United Kingdom?”

[Trump] ‘We would make a great deal with the United Kingdom because they have product that we like. I mean they have a lot of great product. They make phenomenal things, you know, and you have different names - you can say “England”, you can say “UK”, you can say “United Kingdom” so many different - you know you have, you have so many different names - Great Britain. I always say: “Which one do you prefer? Great Britain? You understand what I’m saying?’ 

What Piers wanted to say: "No, Donald, I don't understand, in fact, I have no earthly idea what you're saying. You're babbling like an uneducated, illiterate toad." 

What Piers actually said: 

[Morgan] ‘You know Great Britain and the United Kingdom aren’t exactly the same thing?’

[Trump] ‘Right, yeah. You know I know, but a lot of people don’t know that. But you have lots of different names. The fact is you make great product, you make great things. Even your farm product is so fantastic.’ (From The Daily Mail, read the article here.) 

Monday morning, update #3: The Sunday Times says Prince Charles and Prince William refused to meet with Donald Trump last week. The story mentions President Obama's 2016 visit to London, but he and Michelle also made a full state visit to the U.K. in 2011, where they were honored with a full state dinner and stayed overnight at Buckingham Palace.

Though officials from Downing Street and Buckingham Palace denied the reports, saying that Trump and the Queen were always meant to meet alone, sources and senior courtiers told the Times differently.

“This business of Prince Charles and Prince William not being there for the Trump visit was a snub,” an unnamed source told the Times. “They simply refused to attend. It’s a very, very unusual thing for the Queen to be there on her own.”

In addition, a Whitehall official told the Times that the Queen’s interaction with Trump was “kept to the bare minimum. The Queen will do her duty, but among the wider family, they were not as enthusiastic as they were when Obama came over.”

Trump’s UK visit does look very different from that of President Barack Obama.

Per the Times, the Obamas’ 2016 trip involved a Windsor Castle lunch with the Queen and Prince Philip, as well as a Kensington Palace dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. (From a story at Talking Points Memo, read it here.) 

Who else was conspicuously not there? Ivanka. Unlike her "famously private" stepmother, Ivanka appears to relish the spotlight (aka brand-building opportunities,) having traveled with her father on several previous international trips. Who can forget this:



Where was Ivanka this time? At home stewing, no doubt. She would probably sell her first-born child for the chance to swan around Blenheim Palace with the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, then be photographed standing next to the Queen. Not this time, Ivanka. I have no doubt that the First Lady made it very clear: Ivanka would share this spotlight over Melania's dead body.