The current President of the United States has a lot of people talking. Say what you want about him, he makes headlines and sparks opinions. It seems that the late Queen Elizabeth II wasn’t an exception.
Her Majesty – who died in 2022, is reported to have given a very blunt assessment of Trump during a state visit in 2019, which included a reception at Buckingham Palace. The most fun part, though, isn’t the Queen’s supposed barb, but Trump’s very on-brand response to the claims.
Craig Brown, author of biography Voyage Around The Queen, claimed in his book that the Queen found Trump ‘very rude’.
Brown writes: “Over the course of her reign, Her Majesty entertained many controversial foreign leaders, including Bashar al-Assad, Robert Mugabe, Idi Amin, Donald Trump, Emperor Hirohito and Vladimir Putin.”
He adds: “She may not have found their company convivial; upon their departure, she may even have voiced a discreet word of disapproval.
“A few weeks after President Trump’s visit, for instance, she confided in one lunch guest that she found him ‘very rude’: she particularly disliked the way he couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting.”
Trump – never one to shy away from a barb himself – branded Brown a ‘sleaze bag’ in an interview with The Daily Mail, adding a rather bold claim.
“[The Queen and I] spent hours together at a state dinner,” he said, “She was a fantastic woman. I think it’s a shame that a sleaze bag can write an article that’s totally false. In fact, I’ve heard always the opposite.
“I heard I was her favourite president, and you’ve heard that too. She would say it to a lot of people.”
Buckingham Palace, as per, has not weighed in on any of this.
Trump will be crossing the Pond for another state visit in September, having formally accepted King Charles’ invitation. He and First Lady Melania will be hosted at Windsor Castle, as Buckingham Palace is undergoing some maintenance and renovation work.
For the time being, he’s in Scotland, but it doesn’t seem like he’s got any plans to come to London.
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