I’m finding Donald Trump very educational … Every time he comes on TV, I feel the sudden urge to go into the garden to read a book. But there’s no avoiding him this week as London braces itself for Trump’s second official state visit.

Traditionally, US presidents serving a second term – such as Trump – are not offered a state visit to the UK. Instead, they are invited for a cuppa and a cucumber sandwich with the monarch, as happened with former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Ridicule: A souvenir plate of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein in a London store ahead of the US president’s visit to the UK.Credit: Getty Images

However, in February, to sweeten trade deal talks, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer handed Trump the prestigious invitation from King Charles during a White House meeting.

Starmer, whose poll ratings are limbo low, hopes to reset his prime ministership with a big announcement on a UK/US nuclear deal, and Trump hopes to distract Americans from the Epstein files. For both men, this whole state visit is a weapon of mass distraction.

Still, I have no doubt Trump views this state visit as a meeting between monarchs. It increasingly looks........

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