With POTUS off to Davos, I am confident the White House is pressing Number 10 to allow Trump to pop into London Town to open the new US Embassy and have a proper meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May.
He needs this visit and this meeting, like a lot.
Such need gives May leverage over the petulant President, finally.
She can use this leverage herself - see too needs a reset.
A reset away from her shambolic Cabinet reshuffle and a reboot from the endless Brexit talk and leaks about how the deal is or is not coming together.
For Trump he needs May, and he needs London.
Trump needs one more stop on his Davos itinerary. Coupled with his first State of the Union just days later, Davos has to be more than telling Bally wearing plutocrats "America First."
Sure, such talk will please the voters of Macomb County that served as a beachhead to Electoral College success powering subsequent victories across the Great Lakes, but such happy campaign rhetoric does little for Trump to shape the realities of global business and international commerce.
Trump going to Davos has more to do with a battered ego than actual policy advancement.
Anything Trump has said about trade, commerce, America’s role in the world has already been spouted by him numerous times. In fact, for his Davos speech, I think you will find a carbon copy from the remarks he gave to the APEC CEO Summit last November. You can read the address here.
I am sure the brain trust inside the White House sees Davos as a way to recreate the illusion of Trump's leadership and purpose. One year into his Administration and you find a fire and fury mess. The media coverage he will receive by just stepping foot in a posh Swiss ski village will be immense. Trump's presence will overwhelm all the plans developed over the last year by the well-credentialed and well-read World Economic Forum staff.
Plus, if the White House can convince one America's most significant allies to take a meeting, Trump side by side with May, it will make him look presidential (I know - that word again - but it is the truth). Plus being in such a cosmopolitan city will build solid momentum for his the State of the Union.
Also, since Trump has access to a fantastic plane, he doesn’t have to sort out an EasyJet flight from Switzerland and the corresponding bus transfer from Luton Airport to the city center. Easy-peasy.
Will May provide Trump his much-needed access to London Town?
I say yes.
Globalists and anarchists, plan accordingly.
About the author: Marc A. Ross is the founder of Caracal Global which specializes in global thought-leader communications and management at the intersection of politics, policy, and profits. Ross holds an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
