Posted on 09/23/2025 4:01:47 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Trade diplomacy at Windsor Castle.
Before Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom, there was no shortage of speculation that something might go wrong. Perhaps demonstrators would cause disruption. Or there would be some diplomatic row. The dismissal of the British Ambassador to Washington, Lord Mandelson, just a few days earlier was hardly an encouraging portent.
As it turned out, the visit was a triumph that reasserted the special relationship. There was plenty of pomp and splendor, of course. Nothing wrong with that. Having the magnificent spectacle broadcast around the world did no harm at all to Trump or his hosts. We had the Carriage Procession towards Windsor Castle, the Guard of Honour, with the State Colours of the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream and Scots Guards at the Quadrangle of the Castle, the flypast by UK and US F-35 military jets and the Red Arrows, and the State Banquet in St. George’s Hall for the President and First Lady with all the dressing up.
But it wasn’t all bling. Beyond the pageantry came news of deepening economic links between the United States and the United Kingdom. The Technology Prosperity Deal promises huge investment. It is “a landmark science and technology agreement valued at $350 billion in combined US–UK commercial outcomes.”
The UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told President Trump: “The US is our single, biggest, largest trading partner. Companies like BP, GSK, Rolls Royce and AstraZeneca employ thousands of people in the United States. American companies like Microsoft, Citigroup, Amazon and Blackstone do the same here. Together we support over 2.5 million jobs across both economies.”
So the ambition is to go even further. These are commercial decisions made by private companies. So why should politicians be muscling in making announcements and claiming credit? Why the...
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