Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Trump Meets Queen as Protests Break Out in London

Patsy Widakuswara

   LONDON - U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump
   attended a reception late Tuesday at Buckingham Palace hosted by Queen
   Elizabeth on the sidelines of the NATO summit, where leaders are
   marking 70 years of the alliance.

   This is the third time the Trumps have met the monarch. They met at a
   Buckingham Palace banquet during a state visit in June, and during a
   tea at Windsor Castle in July of 2018.

   Prior to Tuesday's palace reception, the president and the first lady
   briefly met with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at
   their official residence at Clarence House.

   As in his previous visits to Britain, anti-Trump protests broke out.
   Protesters marched from London's Trafalgar Square towards the palace as
   the evening reception took place.

   Among the protesters led by the Stop Trump Coalition, are doctors,
   nurses and staff of the country's National Health Service concerned
   about the potential risks to the British health service system raised
   by a U.S. -- Britain trade deal.

   Election meddling

   But earlier on Tuesday, Trump promised to stay out of Britain's general
   election, scheduled to be held on December 12.

   "I have no thoughts on it. It's going to be a very important election
   for this great country, but I have no thoughts on it," Trump said,
   speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

   But the U.S. president could not resist giving his opinion about
   British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, saying, "Boris is very capable
   and I think he'll do a good job."

   In a recent interview, Johnson warned Trump against giving him an
   endorsement, saying it was best "for neither side to be involved in the
   other's election campaigns."

   In October, Trump praised the prime minister as "the exact right guy
   for the times" and said that the Labour Party's Jeremy Corbyn would be
   "so bad" as prime minister.

     Donald Trump is trying to interfere in Britain's election to get his
     friend Boris Johnson elected.
     It was Trump who said in June the NHS is "on the table". And he
     knows if Labour wins US corporations won't get their hands on it.
     Our NHS is not for sale.[1]pic.twitter.com/AUhht3pCgL
     -- Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) [2]October 31, 2019

   World leaders rarely violate diplomatic norms and wade into other
   countries' elections.

   Trump also said the United States has no interest in Britain's National
   Health Service.

   "We have absolutely nothing to do with it and we wouldn't want to if
   you handed it to us on a silver platter," he said.

   Trump's interest in the privatization of the NHS has been a key focus
   of the British election, with Corbyn accusing Johnson and the
   Conservative Party of including it in a post-Brexit deal with the
   United States. Johnson has denied the accusation.

References

   1. https://t.co/AUhht3pCgL
   2. https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1189965486638981121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

.