Trump’s Over For Tea
US President Donald Trump has officially touched down for his state visit to the UK. The state visit of any US President is a big deal. For the current President, it’s a huuuuge deal. Any talking points for the markets yet?
In his final lunch meeting with departing Prime Minister Theresa May this afternoon, we may hear him clarifying some comments (tweets) about Brexit. Well, that or doubling down on them. Before crossing the pond, Trump advocated a populist Boris-Farage leadership duo to get the country over the other side of the EU, with or without a deal. This whilst “not affecting the global economy and financial stability”, the White House added.
Many of those he’s meeting in the UK see Trump’s ideas as rocking the boat – the UK’s biggest manufacturing body saying “no deal” would spell trouble for investors by disrupting markets with “economic lunacy”. However, when it comes to Britain’s priority number one, the US and UK seem on the same page. “Big trade deal talks” are already underway, so May will try to make inroads with those over tea and biscuits.
Failing that, she’s also agreed to raise the sensitive topic of climate change with the POTUS. Only yesterday did Britain’s biggest stock-pickers, Legal & General Investment Management, issue a warning about this. It compounded the Bank of England’s concerns that “over a £15 trillion of assets could be wiped out” on our current climate course, which Trump has so-far been reluctant to alter.
The high ranks of British government won’t want to anger their guest, nor waste a good opportunity to plant trade seeds for life after the EU. The dynamic is poised, and this certainly isn’t where the story ends. Stay tuned!
Avengers Crushes Box-Office Records