Donald Trump will not address both Houses of Parliament on his looming State Visit, Lord Mandelson has suggested.
The UK ambassador to the US appeared to confirm speculation that the president’s trip will happen in September when Westminster is not sitting.
That would reduce the potential for protests, but also deprive Mr Trump of an honour that was granted to Emmanuel Macron last week.
Keir Starmer dramatically extended the official invitation from the King as he wooed Mr Trump at the White House in February.
It will be the first time a US President has been granted the honour of a second state visit. Mr Trump’s first was in 2019.
However, there has been a backlash from some left-wing MPs who launched a campaign to block him from addressing Parliament.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lord Mandelson lavished praise on Mr Trump.
The peer said Mr Trump was a ‘phenomenon’ who ‘dominated’ Washington and would be ‘one of the most consequential presidents in American history’.
Keir Starmer dramatically extended the official State Visit invitation from the King as he wooed Donald Trump at the White House in February
Lord Mandelson said Mr Trump was a ‘phenomenon’ who ‘dominated’ Washington and would be ‘one of the most consequential presidents in American history’
A visit during Parliamentary recess would reduce the potential for protests, but also deprive Mr Trump of an honour that was granted to Emmanuel Macron last week (pictured)
Lord Mandelson said of the State Visit: ‘He should expect a warm reception because he really does love Britain. He hugely admires it.
‘He trusts Keir Starmer. It’s not a question of expressing our gratitude. My lodestar here is to demonstrate respect, not sycophancy. I don’t think the administration has any problem with that.’
Reminded that Labour left-wingers have started a petition against Mr Trump addressing both Houses of Parliament, the peer said: ‘Well there’s a surprise… But I had assumed that at the time of the visit Parliament won’t be sitting.’
The Commons is due to sit at the beginning of September, but then break again from the 16th while party conferences are held.
Mr Trump is expected to visit Scotland before then to tour golf courses, with rumours he will meet up with Sir Keir.
Lord Mandelson said Mr Trump is a ‘more nuanced figure than people appreciate’.
‘Look, he’s not only a unique politician – he’s also going to be one of the most consequential presidents in American history,’ the ambassador said.
‘He has this sense of history, this grasp of power which I think perhaps recent inhabitants of the White House haven’t quite seen. He is not a man for endless seminars and thinking.
‘He’s not a victim of analysis paralysis. He has a very quick, easy way of grasping the core points about an issue. And let’s be honest: more often than not, there’s a kernel of truth in everything he says.’
Lord Mandelson joked that the MAGA crowd in Washington ‘regard me as a slightly exotic target of their fascination’.
He said a turning point in his job was when Mr Trump described him as ‘handsome’ during Sir Keir’s visit to the White House.
‘I’ve never been in a town or a political system that is so dominated by one individual,’ he said.
‘Usually, you’re entering an ecosystem rather than the world of one personality. But he is a phenomenon. A unique politician.’
Lord Mandelson suggested he does not believe Nigel Farage will become PM as he recounted a recent conversation with US vice president JD Vance.
‘I explained to the vice-president that, yes, highly effective populists and political actors like Farage can take advantage,’ the New Labour architect said.
‘At the end of the day, at the election people will be choosing their future government – not having a fling, expressing a protest or demonstrating their impatience.
‘And in that sense, I said, perhaps Nigel is peaking too soon.’
The former Cabinet minister – now UK ambassador to the US – said Mr Farage (pictured on the Channel last week) is a ‘highly effective populist’ as polls show Reform with a significant lead
Lord Mandelson compared the political situations in the UK and US as he tried to explain why the Labour government has been struggling to make headway.
He said: ‘The mandates that both President Trump and Keir Starmer won at their elections last year came from the same sense of anger that many voters have.
‘That they’ve been overlooked: the system was not delivering for them, that they were being taken for granted.
‘But what’s different about Britain is that we seem to have been travelling through a long, dark tunnel for ten years, with no signs of light or hope.
‘It has seemed one thing after another. And I feel people are emerging from that tunnel, almost blinking into the daylight.’
