Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton says he has advised countries with monarchies to invite Donald Trump on a state visit if they want to ease diplomatic tensions, as King Charles continues his first state visit to the USA
A former adviser to President Donald Trump has disclosed the advice he has been giving to other nations when they find themselves at odds with the divisive leader.
John Bolton, who previously served as national security adviser to Trump and as US ambassador to the United Nations, made the remarks as King Charles continues his inaugural state visit to the USA.
The visit comes less than a year after Trump’s own state visit to the UK, which was described early last year by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer as “unprecedented”. It is precisely these state visits that Mr Bolton has been recommending other nations pursue, provided they still have a functioning monarchy.
Speaking to The Times’ The Royals podcast, John Bolton said: “I have advised other countries that have monarchs that if they run into trouble with Trump they should really invite Trump for a state visit to meet their king or queen and have them come over here.
“We’ll see if it extends beyond the UK, I’m not sure. It worked with the Emperor of Japan, also when Trump paid a state visit there when I served in the White House.”
Should Mr Bolton’s assessment prove accurate, this would give the likes of Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Belgium an additional advantage as Trump grows increasingly hostile towards Europe, according to the Express.
In recent months, mounting concern has surrounded Trump’s NATO-sceptic stance, as he has repeatedly questioned the disparity between America’s spending on the alliance and that of other European members.
This widening rift between the USA and Europe, particularly the UK, has left world leaders trying both to placate Trump and to prepare for a future in which America may no longer guarantee their security.
Consequently, there has been considerable attention on what effect King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to the USA will have on what remains of the so-called Special Relationship between the two nations.
Ahead of the King’s visit, a fresh poll indicated that nearly half of Britons believe there is no ‘Special Relationship’, with 48 percent of those surveyed by Ipsos stating it does not exist.
Commenting on the results, Ipsos Senior Director of UK Politics Gideon Skinner suggested there had been a major shift in British attitudes towards the US over the past year.
Mr Skinner said: “British attitudes towards the relationship with the US have seen significant fluctuation over the last 12 months, but since the start of the Iran conflict belief in the special relationship has deteriorated rapidly to a new low.
“Against this backdrop, public opinion towards King Charles’ state visit is split, with as many in favour as against. This may partly reflect uncertainty over its likely impact, with 4 in 10 believing that it will make little difference to the state of the US-UK relationship.
“Having said that, very few think it will have a clearly negative effect, and 1 in 3 are more hopeful — especially among Conservative and Reform UK voters, who are more supportive of the visit in the first place.”
