Trump’s reality state visit to Big Brother house in England, England
Donald Trump’s UK visit felt like reality TV meets royal theatre, with lavish pageantry — a theme park monarchy he admires but doesn’t respect.
D onald Trump’s second state visit to Britain brings to mind a classier reality television than the world is used to.
The pomp and ceremony in and around Windsor Castle seemed like a closed set with carefully positioned cameras. Swarming with members of the British military and armies of flunkies, the only other figures of note were the Trumps and the royal family.
Everything was a stage, and all of those present played their parts.
This was a gilded Big Brother house and seemed to be located in England, England, the theme park dreamed up by Julian Barnes in his eponymous novel. There, England is replicated on the Isle of Wight, its most recognisable buildings, locations and quintessentially English things crammed together so they’re easy to access, at one go and for the price of just one ticket!
The British laid on the flummery by the carriage load and Mr Trump took it as his due, while openly admiring the classiness with which it was done.
That said, Mr Trump’s love of British royalty must be kept in perspective. It neither translates into respect for Britain’s political system nor its way of doing things.
He wants England, England. And preferably on a day trip.
GOING FURTHER
England, England, by Julian Barnes
Sources:
▪ This piece was first published in Medium and re-published in Europeans TODAY on 18 September 2025 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. | The author writes in a personal capacity.
▪ Cover: Flickr/Number 10 Gov. (Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.)
