The Times: Whoops! No planes to show Trump
Plans to wow Donald Trump with Britain’s newest bit of military kit when he visits the UK next month have been torn up amid fears that he would be underwhelmed by Britain’s ailing armed forces.
Downing Street wanted to show the American president HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carrier, but the plan has been torpedoed because it has no aircraft yet. Officials feared the sight of Trump’s helicopter landing on an otherwise empty flight deck would provoke ridicule from Trump, who spent the recent G20 summit berating European leaders for their lack of defence spending...... “Trump has 10 major carriers and all of them have a deck full of aircraft,” said one government source. “We can’t take him there. It would be embarrassing.”
The possibility of Trump attending the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, which runs from July 13 to 15, is now being discussed as an alternative entertainment........