Trump and public don't mix in Britain on this trip

The Scotland United Against Trump march in Edinburgh. Photo / AP

ANALYSIS: US President Barack Obama had just wrapped up a meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2011 when they took a detour, visiting a school in South London where they engaged a pair of students in a table tennis doubles match.

The ping-pong diplomacy served a political purpose - presenting the two leaders as partners in touch with the day-to-day lives of ordinary Britons. Former George W. Bush aides recall the 43rd president attending church in Beijing, taking a safari in Botswana and dining in a Tokyo restaurant. Such cultural moments have long been a staple of foreign trips for US presidents.

Not so much for President Donald Trump. Hewing to a formal itinerary limited to working sessions with Prime Minister Theresa May and tea with the Queen, Trump has avoided interacting with the public at large, as on his previous foreign trips.

"Most presidents, when they go abroad, are trying to win hearts and minds for the United States' democratic ways, so they are always in salesman mode," said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. "Trump is trying to smash institutions and orchestrate a grand realignment of power politics."

Tommy Vietor, a White House spokesman under Obama, said the aim of getting the boss into the public was to "show another side of the president as more relatable with the goal of wanting the US to be popular abroad. It helps us advance our priorities and convince foreign governments to support initiatives we have."

Billy McCullough waits to catch a glimpse of Donald Trump as he plays golf, near Turnberry golf club. Photo / AP

Vietor noted that Trump, a real estate promoter and reality television star before entering the White House, has the ability to charm people. Unlike his predecessors, however, Trump has not sought to try to expand his base of support; rather, he has focused on maintaining the intensity of his most devoted followers. To that end, Trump has used foreign trips to bully allies to spend more on defence, harangue them on trade and criticise them over immigration policy.

Trump told the Sun that the London protests had persuaded him to spend most of his trip outside the city. "I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London."

Brinkley suggested that Trump was similar to authoritarian leaders who can "control the environment" around them. Trump's decision not to mix with the public "makes him seem like the arrogant American that looks down his nose at all foreigners. He's using foreign trips to feed the base more red meat."