Donald Trump will be officially visiting the UK this Friday, should we be outraged or should we welcome the visit? Students at Newcastle University have their say...
It’s hard to believe its been almost a year and a half has passed since Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States. It's also hard to believe that between all the controversial tweets and public statements he's managed to make official visits to more than 15 countries including France, Germany, China and Italy. But despite the fact that Theresa May was one of the first foreign politicians to visit him in the White House he's still not been to the UK.
After cancelling the visit previously scheduled in February amid fears of protest, the newly-arranged July 13th date is not to be a full state visit as originally promised. However, May has said she was "looking forward to welcoming President Trump to the United Kingdom for a working visit on July 13".
Do Newcastle University students feel as welcoming? We visited campus to find out…
Gerry Hart, 23, Politics (MA)
"Well, I mean, obviously we need to maintain diplomatic channels, you can’t just cut off the United States, but I don’t think the full state visit is really appropriate or necessary. Trump is an incredibly divisive leader.
He has already stoked racial tensions in the UK by retweeting Britain First, and he made light of knife crime in London just to score a cheap political point at an NRA rally, so, no, I don’t think we should be rolling out the red carpet for this man. I know the government has welcomed much worse people than him, but I don’t think that’s any reason that we should be giving him such a warm welcome. I don’t think we can allow him to be normalised."
Natasha Homans, 20, Chemical Engineering
"As much as I don’t want him in the UK, at the end of the day if we want to have a good relationship with the US – which is important in foreign policy – we should accept he has to come over. I definitely think a reduced state visit is the right route to take.
Obama was a good leader and we liked him, but clearly people don’t like Trump here, so I don’t think he should be treated on the same level at all. They simply don’t stand for the same things."
Ben McMurdo, 21, Law
"I don’t think he represents a true leader of the free world. Also, I think Trump has been so inconsistent with his policy that I don’t think you’d want to welcome that sort of hysterical type of politician into a country with a lot of political instability. I don’t think that’s right."
Solomon Jima Bedada, 25, Business Management
"He’s the leader of a great nation, so we have to respect him. He’s in the same position as Obama was, so we have to treat him with the same respect."
Pearl Andrews-Horrigan, 19, English lit, Politics and Media
"Personally, I wouldn’t want to welcome him for a full state visit, but I think if we don’t it’s going to set a dangerous precedent. I think the current plan for a reduced visit is probably the safest road to take, because it’s the middle ground.
There’s always going to be people that disagree with him, but at the end of the day he's the president of the United States and an important ally to us, even more so now with Brexit than ever before."
Lucas Spanaus, 22, Biochemistry
"We should welcome him. Whatever opinion he has he's the leader of the United States. With his power he could turn against us, which I think he already has in making some economic decisions which hurt the UK economy. But we should still be diplomatic, as a country and as politicians.
If he’s already cancelled an earlier visit, then they are obviously concerned about security, and it’s his decision to reduce the public appearances he can do in the UK. That’s his decision, and not ours. We can make him welcome, but we have the right to protest the same as the United States."
Gabriela Kwaku Yeboah, 24, Media and Public Relations
"I have mixed feelings about it. I’m not happy about having him around, mainly because of what we have been through as a country. After Brexit, it feels like we’re aligning with his ideas, but we really aren’t. You can see it in us – young people – we don’t really believe in what he says, we don't believe that things should be separated and divided.
I wouldn’t like him around, but if he is around, let’s not get influenced by him.I strongly believe that protests are going to happen if he has a full state visit. Of course, we have always been really friendly with America because we have a lot in common, but is that what we want now, to showcase as ‘us’?"
Lizzie Munn, 22, Fine Art
"I don’t think we should welcome him. I feel like the majority of people in the UK don’t want him to visit, but at the same time I feel like we can’t really stop him from coming. I don’t think a reduced state visit is going to stop any issues or anyone being against it, or protesting.
People don’t want him coming altogether, so they want to voice this, even if the visit is more informal. I don’t think anyone will be bothered with how formal the visit is, it’s more the fact that it's happening in the first place."
Alex Boyd, 20, Film Practices and Kat Eadie, 20, Philosophy and Classics
Alex -
"He can do what he wants, it’s a free country. I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet for him though. I think, on the one hand, he is one of the leaders of the free world, but we shouldn’t give him any platform to put across his views when they don’t align with anything that our country stands for.
As far as I’m concerned, I don’t think he’s got any business doing anything in politics, but there are certain formalities that must be followed within reason. I think a less formal visit is definitely better than the original plan."
Kat -
"A short visit is good because it shows that although you’re going to welcome him and respect that he is the leader of America, it shows that we’re not in-line with his views. We’re still respecting him but holding him back a little."
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