Back in February in the Oval Office, it all seemed such a good idea.
As world leaders lined up to pay tribute in the court of King Donald, Sir Keir Starmer played a trump card quite literally.
Only a British prime minister can offer what Trump is about to enjoy this week as a result, three days of peerless pomp and ceremony in castles and stately homes hosted by royalty.
For an Anglophile who craves the spotlight, the idea was irresistible. Trump beamed with delight as he received the King’s letter, becoming the first elected leader ever to be invited for a second state visit.
Some said the prime minister moved too quickly. This was something Trump should have had to have worked for, dangled as a reward for favourable treatment. Instead, the critics said, he got something for nothing and has abused that generosity ever since.
Epstein scandal casts long shadow
And, the argument goes, his haste has made that invitation a hostage to fortune.
Not least because of the Epstein scandal. The King and prime minister will now play host to a president tainted by association with an infamous paedophile.
Making matters worse, Britain’s ambassador in Washington, Lord Mandelson, has had to resign over the Epstein furore.
There have, of course, been controversial state visits in the past.
A parade of rogues have traipsed through the palace. Romania’s dictator president Ceaucescu, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and even Vladimir Putin himself.
But none have had such an unseemly scandal as their backdrop.
There are plenty of more heavyweight issues clouding the special relationship too.
Not least Ukraine. Trump is siding more and more with Moscow over how to end the war, increasingly at odds with the UK and the rest of its European allies.
And Gaza. Trump’s acquiescence with what many in Britain’s own ruling party believe to be genocide is another festering transatlantic sore.
Then there is Trump’s unorthodox trade policy and tariffs, his deportations at home, his trampling of civil rights, the list goes on.
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A worthwhile charm offensive?
The next three days will be an exercise in papering over cracks in transatlantic relations with as much red carpet, gold brocade and pomp and circumstance as the British government can throw at it.
The Starmer government will insist the charm offensive has to some extent already worked, winning Britain better trading terms with Trump’s America than Europe, even if the UK still faces higher tariffs than it did before.
And more than a billion dollars worth of American money is being invested in British financial firms, say ministers ahead of the visit.
Read more from Sky News:
What we know about Trump’s visit
A vanity trip or a powerful card to play?
Wise old veteran diplomats say looking for reasons to object to Trump’s visit is rather missing the point. Britain cannot afford not to be pragmatic.
“We can’t ignore him,” says Sir Peter Westmacott, former British ambassador to Washington.
“We have to sort of engage with him and sort of use the full sort of power of the British state and royalty to make that succeed. He’s there. There’s no point pretending otherwise just because you might not like some aspects of President Trump’s behavior and policies.”
Forget the scandals and divisions then, hold your nose and muster all the soft power of British royal pageantry.
If it helps further British interests, it will have been worth it, say diplomatic observers. Never mind the rest.
