Trump's state visit could be marred by one word: Epstein

Most state visits to Britain, it is fair to say, are relatively low-key, jolly and uncomplicated. On the orders of Downing Street and the Foreign Office, the royals get the best silver and the tiaras out, and put on a show and a feast. Such exercises are an exercise in what's called “soft power”, which is sometimes the only kind of power the British still possess. The House of Windsor has it in abundance.

- SEAN O'GRADY

State visits are designed to butter-up existing or prospective friends, or help restore fractured relations. The last one, by President and Madame Macron on behalf of the French Republic, was certainly a repair exercise, after years of open hostility from Boris “donnez-moi un break” Johnson and Liz “friend or foe?” Truss. It passed off very well. Macron made a graceful speech or two, and soon the Bayeux Tapestry will be on display at the British Museum. Last year, the Emperor and Empress of Japan were similarly warmly welcomed, without even a token protest this time by old soldiers about atrocities during the Second World War.

This is as it should be, but obviously is not in the case of Donald Trump, a figure who invites mixed reactions in the UK just as he does in his native land and indeed globally. In short, no-one quite knows what will transpire before and after Tuesday evening, when the tangerine tyrant/saviour of Western civilisation, touches down. For all concerned, it could just as easily turn out to be a triumph as a disaster, with a mixture of both the more likely outcome. It should certainly be eventful.