Sky Views: No need for May to 'come over all French' with Trump

Adam Boulton, All Out Politics presenter

After the bromance between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron at the White House, Theresa May has her chance to get close to Trump when he comes to Britain in mid-July for a "business-like" visit (ie not the full pomp of the state visit which Mrs May rushed to offer him the first time they met last year).

Just how close does May want to get to Trump? And does it matter to the rest of us whether our political leaders love or loathe each other?

Emmanuel Macron is now boasting of "a very special relationship" between France and the US, which sounds like a notch up on the traditional Anglo-American "special relationship" so nervously guarded on this side of the Atlantic.

On the other hand, after the lingering farewell kisses and hugs at the White House, Macron's address to the US Congress was a kick in the teeth for the "America First" president.

He warned against isolationism, withdrawal and nationalism and urged the US to recommit to the Paris climate change accords and the nuclear agreement with Iran - both of which Trump regards as "the worst deal ever".

Not much room for agreement there, in spite of Macron's hopes that the two republics can be cornerstones of a "21st century world order".

I've watched world leaders make nice with each other since the days of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Francois Mitterrand. My conclusion is that their interactions matter more to them personally than to the countries they represent, since true diplomatic relations are pretty much determined by external circumstances.

Few leaders can make the weather.

At any one time there is a club of leaders in office, not least because those are the people who will feature in the photographs and the anecdotes when the memoirs come out.

Those of us looking on get lots of fun seeing who snubs who and who sucks up to who. Donald Trump picking dandruff off Macron's shoulder - primate-grooming style - is yucky but it is also TV gold.

A lot of our interest in leaders today is down to the star quality of Reagan and Thatcher in the last century.

Before them nobody cared or even knew if Harold Wilson and Richard Nixon, or Jim Callaghan and Jimmy Carter, had a rapport.

During the Second World War, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt seemed to meet as friends and equals but that didn't stop the Americans making sure that the UK was relegated to their underdog after the costly conflict.

Thatcher made a point of her personal relationship with Reagan, but they were also ideological allies.

Vice president George Bush was eager for her endorsement but once in the White House he deliberately put distance between himself and the prime minister.

Prime ministers after Thatcher tried to copy her approach, desperate for their "special relationship" with whoever happened to be president to mime the special relationship between their two countries, build on links of language, culture, business and security.

Tony Blair saw Bill Clinton as a model and a "third way" inspiration, but he also took Clinton's advice to "hug close" the next president, right wing Republican George W Bush.

Until now, French presidents have stood back disdainfully from the backslapping "Anglo-Saxons".

No one was keener than Francois Mitterrand to insist on protocol, reminding everyone that there were two heads of state, French and American, presidents not prime ministers, at international gatherings.

His special relationship was with other Europeans, especially Chancellor Kohl of Germany, and more grudgingly with Thatcher who he famously said possessed "the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe".

If the Macron-Trump love-in has any significance, it is that France's newly elected president seems to want to signal a shake up in his country's relationships with the outside world.

He knows that the UK is preoccupied with Brexit, and is seizing an opportunity to cosy up to the unreliable American president, who, the record shows, likes nothing better than turning on those he used to call friends.

At least socially, Trump is more of a pushover than either May or the German Chancellor Angela Merkel - who left the Oval Office last year without even shaking The Donald's hand.

Theresa May is not a touchy-feely kind of person and she shouldn't try to be

Merkel has already rebuffed Macron's grandiose schemes to transform the EU and the Eurozone.

Don't expect any sexual chemistry as Merkel follows in Macron's footsteps to the Trump White House this weekend.

She, rather than Macron, should be the prime minister's model when Trump comes here.

The American ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, was hired by Trump and knows him well.

But even he was embarrassed by his friend when Trump denounced the newly built US embassy in London as yet another worst deal ever.

The optimistic Johnson expects British good manners will result in a respectful welcome for the President on his British visit.

Whatever happens, transatlantic relations will remain special based on the mutual desires for prosperity and security, not the personalities of our leaders.

Theresa May is not a touchy-feely kind of person and she shouldn't try to be. There is no need for her to come over all French with The Donald.

Sky Views is a new series of comment pieces by Paste BN editors and correspondents, published daily at 9am.

Previously on Sky Views: John Sparks - How Africa is 'taming' the internet