British monarch Queen Elizabeth II was spotted checking her watch on Friday as she patiently waited for President Donald Trump, who was late to their meeting, and the internet loves it.
Oh dear, she just looked at her watch. The Queen does NOT like tardiness. pic.twitter.com/b0GXBV9oWt
— Patricia Treble (@PatriciaTreble) July 13, 2018
Trump eventually arrived to meet the royal, part of his current visit to the U.K., but Twitter users were already outraged that the 92-year-old had been made to stand in the 80 degree heat and wait.
President Boobus kept the Queen waiting so long, she checked her watch at one point.
— Not in your cult (@rish_rv13) July 13, 2018
#QueenElizabeth just checked her watch!!! 😳 That disgraceful & embarrassing #Trump is LATE?!?! 🤭🧐 When will this nightmare end? #TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/55lh800ELQ
— 🧜🏽♀️ Cyndy…🇺🇸🦅 #HarrisWalz2024‼️ (@Lavender4CC) July 13, 2018
Did the queen just check her watch?
— ⚜️⚜️ lizzibetts ⚜️⚜️ (@lizzibetts) July 13, 2018
To be fair, Trump has had a packed itinerary. Besides the bilateral trade talks that took place Friday morning, the U.K. prime minister, Theresa May, had organized a range of activities that centered on the president’s British hero, World War II British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
On Thursday evening, she held a black tie dinner for him at the 2,000 acre Blenheim Palace estate in Oxfordshire—Churchill’s birth and burial place. There, coincidentally, the Duke of Marlborough had set up an exhibition on Churchill, which the prime minister was keen to show Trump. In fact, U.K. press reported that the president was so fascinated by the exhibit that he delayed dinner for his 150 guests.
Before it was abruptly cut from the final itinerary, there had also been talk that Trump might even get to visit Churchill’s war room.
Knowing that the president idolizes the wartime leader, some have suggested that the British have crafted the entire visit to rub Trump’s ego ahead of the all-important trade talks.
So, on Friday, when White House press secretary Sarah Sanders shared a picture of Trump proudly sitting on the armchair formerly owned by the wartime leader, he, once again, broke the internet.
.@POTUS sits in Winston Churchill’s chair as a guest of Prime Minister May at Chequers. pic.twitter.com/Wv2nrLMnQP
— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) July 13, 2018
A complete hit with conservatives, who drew comparisons between the two, others criticized it.
This should say Churchill once sat in President Trump’s chair https://t.co/mSQRUbOPTS
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) July 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1017811630690832384
As flawed a character as Churchill undoubtedly was, the idea of El Presidente Naranja sitting in his chair is profoundly distasteful. Churchill served his country as a soldier and led it through an existential conflict to victory.
— 🇺🇦 John Robie 🇪🇺🔶🇪🇺 #FBPA #FBPPR (@FanaticRealist) July 13, 2018
Trump dodged the draft. And locks up children.
Trump in Churchill’s chair pic.twitter.com/3jkvLwyomS
— @BritRejoin (@BritRejoin) July 13, 2018
Trump sitting in the chair of Winston Churchill means West is Over pic.twitter.com/vQ2f1uZDZ6
— Shehzad Younis شہزاد یونس (@shehzadyounis) July 13, 2018
What did Trump muse to himself while sitting in Winston Churchill’s chair? Churchill spoke to House of Commons as PM for first time on 13 May 1940 w/ unforgettable: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” pic.twitter.com/bjBZJ8aLTO
— Theresa Fallon (@TheresaAFallon) July 13, 2018
https://twitter.com/KEOchuk/status/1017832897099821056
Still, if the Churchill tour was about warming up the president it might have worked.
In an interview with British tabloid newspaper The Sun, published Friday morning, Trump had said that a U.S. trade deal was off because he did not support the prime minister’s moderate plan to leave the European Union trade bloc. Hours later, in a press conference with May, and after having a better time that he’d initially expected, Trump backed down on harsh comments and then outright denied making them.
The trade deal’s fate, though, really hangs on the fragility and temperamental nature of Trump’s mood and, if he looks out his hotel window at the mass protests and demonstrations happening in London, it might well be called off once again.
Incendiary group of drummers. #TrumpProtest #TrumpVisitsUK pic.twitter.com/Qp2OUUopiD
— Amrita Khalid (@askhalid) July 13, 2018
“London grabs back.” #TrumpProtest pic.twitter.com/BaaNrUiJzK
— Amrita Khalid (@askhalid) July 13, 2018
Wide array of signs at #TrumpVisitUK protest. pic.twitter.com/Y4DTxa6Hp5
— Amrita Khalid (@askhalid) July 13, 2018
