Britain was right to try to engage with Donald Trump and afford him a state visit - Carl Les

Only time will tell how this second administration works, for good or ill, and the erratic nature of some decision-making is worrying, even if it is more settled than the first. The principles of isolationism, weaponising tariffs and commercial deal-making as a tool of diplomacy rather than being guided by a moral compass are somewhat alien concepts in a world that since the end of the Second World War has moved towards free trade and unilateral cooperation.

It is right to try to engage with this President as it is with every other world leader but this one in particular. Clearly he enjoys the flattery that goes with his position, certainly expects it more than any previous incumbent. Only three US Presidents have been accorded a state visit, Trump being one of them, now for a unique second time. The other two were Presidents George Bush the senior and Obama. Perhaps we should have done more with the others.

This visit was laced with superlatives and firsts, Windsor Castle instead of Buckingham Palace, the most troops ever in an honour guard. But it was done with considerably less cost and disruption than being held in central London, with a carriage ride down the Mall and a visit to Parliament.

Was it right to involve our Royal Family? Well clearly you can’t have a state visit without two heads of state. The King may have been the key player in the affaire diplomatique, but was not, and should not be involved in the politics. The President has a keen personal interest in the monarchy, learnt from his Scottish mother. To be shown a handwritten letter of condolence written by his predecessor Abraham Lincoln to one of the King’s forebears, Queen Victoria, on the death of her foreigner husband Prince Albert, expressing once again the bonds that exist between our two nations. This was at a very small cost but with high emotional value.

Any leverage that could be applied to the President’s thinking, his postures and aligning his decision-making more aligned with ours, is fair play in an arena where personality is more in the ascendancy than proper political philosophy.

Should the King be involved in commercial matters, supposedly the raison d’etre behind the visit? All the working Royals spend much of their time visiting commerce and industry, opening many examples of investment, celebrating many examples of success. All are committed by heritage and birth to the well-being of the country and that well-being is largely dependent on the creation of wealth.

How that wealth is taxed and distributed is not their concern, but they should be able to be interested in its creation and in this case inward investment.

Whether that inward investment needed this stimulus is perhaps a moot point. Hitching a lift on Air Force One might be a fun experience, but for the big AI investments promised, the big UK market exists here, the big land capacity, big power, big water supplies occur locally, not in the US or even the EU. You either tap into it here or you don’t.

The same with small modular nuclear energy plants. The market exists here and can’t be serviced from afar. The real worry is what are the bilateral trade deals that haven’t been highlighted. Perhaps digital performing rights taxation to be relaxed? Farming standards protections signed away for the promise of cheaper food imports and lower retail food inflation?

Other real worries are that nothing much was said about Ukraine, other than President Trump complaining that President Putin “let me down”. What about the rest of us? The risk now is no longer mistaken overshoots of drones and missiles into Nato territories. Now Russian jets are overflying sovereign airspace. Putin pushing boundaries, testing reaction and resolve. I can hear my Aunty K shouting “never trust a Russian” – I think she meant the leadership rather than the whole population, although she had bitter experience of the liberation of Poland from the Nazis when the Red Army liberators often were more brutal than the Wehrmacht invaders.

So far Nato escorts the miscreants away. But more resources will be needed, more boots needed on the ground and rightly so. But that will mean more temporary single parent families, especially in North Yorkshire, home to many military families, with all the angst and worry that entails. As a community and especially as a council we will need to be ready to stand by them.

Carl Les is the Leader of North Yorkshire Council.