Reaction to Trump nomination from US’s Western allies UPDATE:Renzi weighs in too

[Mr. Morden]

So Chris Pyne (Australia’s Minister for Industry, Innovation, and Science) just called Trump’s support “terrifying”:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/terrifying-and-kind-of-weird-christopher-pyne-blasts-the-donald-trump-phenomenon-20160316-gnl53l.html

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And this is coming from someone in a center-right party.  If Trump is nominated (not elected president, but simply nominated by the Republican Party), what kind of reaction do you envision from the political class of Canada, Australia, and Western Europe?  Normally, they try to remain “officially” neutral, but this time it might be different.  How will they balance any public pressure to show disgust against the imperative to not be seen as trying to interfere with an American election?

What if, for example, Trump follows the example of Obama ’08 and Romney ’12, and does a quick foreign tour during the summer?  Romney visited a few countries last time, including the UK, where he met with both Cameron and Miliband.  Would Cameron even return Trump’s calls, if he tried to do that this time?  Maybe Cameron would refuse to meet him, but Corbyn would agree?  That would be an interesting meeting.  

[Mr. Morden]

As stated in the OP, I'm not asking about how they'll react if he's elected (which I'd still say is a longshot).  I'm asking about how they'll react if/when he's nominated.

E.g., during a US presidential campaign, it's not uncommon for visiting foreign leaders to meet with both major party nominees, if they happen to be in the country.  Or conversely, for the candidate to do an overseas trip, and meet with foreign leaders on their home turf.  Would Cameron, Hollande, Merkel, et al. even agree to have a phone conversation with Trump during the course of the campaign?  They're also, presumably, going to get asked questions about Trump during the course of the campaign.  How will they respond?

[Mr. Morden]

Politico has an interesting story on this very question:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/trump-terrifies-world-leaders-222233

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[Mr. Morden]

It’s happening….Trump winning the GOP nomination is no longer a hypothetical, so we’ll have to see how world leaders react.  As you may recall, David Cameron had the following to say about Trump’s proposed Muslim ban several months ago:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/03/david-cameron-should-reach-out-and-apologise-to-donald-trump-his/

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The Telegraph now says that a Trump adviser wants Cameron to apologize, but Cameron isn’t biting.  However:

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[Mr. Morden]

*bump*

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-david-cameron-223204

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Trump also responded to London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s comments about Trump’s proposed Muslim ban:

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[Mr. Morden]

I like how we have a major party presidential nominee who says things like "I'm not stupid, OK?  I can tell you that right now."

[Mr. Morden]

Latest on Cameron vs. Trump: Trump claims that Cameron has invited him to London for a visit:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-david-cameron-invitation-223400

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[Mr. Morden]

Cameron's office says that there has been no invitation sent to Trump:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/downing-st-denies-donald-trump-invitation-claim-20160520-gp0g47.html

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So sounds like, even though there isn't going to be any invitation sent, Cameron would agree to meet with him if he visited the UK this summer.  I can only imagine how such a meeting would go....

[Mr. Morden]

Sorry folks.  Looks like a Trump overseas trip this summer is unlikely:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/trump-overseas-trips-223464

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[Mr. Morden]

I assume that many folks find him as unsuitable as I find him, and some will say so publicly once he is nominated.  Some will even try to influence our election, though maybe not with such effrontery and arrogance as Obama showed recently in the UK, mucking about and encouraging them to vote against a referendum to leave the european union.  I doubt any foreign politicians will have any influence on the US election, unless they're willing to put their monies where their mouths are.  Endorsements and anti-endorsements are over-rated.

To be clear, when I started this thread, the intent wasn't to examine how foreign leaders might influence the American election.  It was more a question of whether these leaders might have to dispense with even the pretense of neutrality in order to appease their own domestic electorates.

E.g., four years ago, Romney visited the UK during the election year, and met with both Cameron and Miliband.  I'm assuming that even though, presumably, the majority of British voters would prefer Obama be reelected rather than Romney be elected, these meetings were pretty uncontroversial because people generally understand "OK, this guy might be the next US president, and this is what you do, no big deal".  The question though is, is Trump just so toxic in Europe now that Cameron (and other European leaders) would have a harder time explaining such a meeting with Trump?

Let's say Trump announces tomorrow that he's going to be visiting a few European countries next month, in the same spirit that Romney did four years ago and Obama did eight years ago.  Do any of the heads of government on the continent decide that it would be politically damaging to be seen with Trump?  How would they react to Trump visiting their country?  Conversely, if any of them are planning to visit the US this year, would they decline to meet with Trump (whereas they would have met with, say, Kasich or Rubio or Bush if any of them had been the nominee)?  Do some of them decide that shunning Trump is an electoral winner for them, despite the fact that doing so is risky because he might actually be elected president, and they'll have to work with him?

[Mr. Morden]

I found this story from February, in which Matteo Renzi said that he’s rooting for Clinton:

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-italy-pm-says-as-citizen-he-hopes-clinton-wins-us-election-2016-2?IR=T

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Renzi was also overheard talking to Obama about Trump at the G7 summit:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/obama-trump-has-world-leaders-rattled-by-ignorance-cavalier-attitude-223595

There’s also this story from back in January, about Malcolm Turnbull having called Marco Rubio during his last trip to the US, as he didn’t want to talk to either Cruz or Trump who were ahead of Rubio in the polls:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/laurie-oakes/malcolm-turnbull-faces-nervous-wait-for-us-presidential-vote/news-story/221fbc1351d6174e611e1dfa67336bbf

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[Mr. Morden]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/cameron-happy-to-meet-trump-sees-u-s-relationship-continuing

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[Mr. Morden]

Trump to visit Britain one day after EU referendum:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-britain-trump-idUSKCN0YN4J5

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[Mr. Morden]

George Galloway says Trump is better than Clinton:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/george-galloway-trump-clinton-224001

[Mr. Morden]

So, Trump is arriving in the UK later today, but he won’t be meeting with Cameron, or any other political leaders:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/23/donald-trump-arrives-in-the-uk-saying-he-would-be-inclined-to-le/

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In related news, a Mexican flag has been raised on the land adjacent to Trump’s Scottish golf course, to welcome him:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/21/mexican-flag-raised-at-donald-trumps-golf-course/

[Mr. Morden]

With Trump visiting Scotland, I’ll also mention this classic Trump quote from 2014 about how wind farms are a disaster “like Pan Am 103”:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/trump-called-wind-turbines-a-disaster-for-scotland-like-the?utm_term=.aeZ5Gezy9#.bpp47r1bq

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[Mr. Morden]

Condemnation from the NSW Parliament:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-13/nsw-parliament-denounces-donald-trump/7929456

[Mr. Morden]

Nicola Sturgeon speaks...

http://www.politico.eu/article/nicola-sturgeon-to-americans-dont-vote-for-donald-trump/

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[Mr. Morden]

Renzi also not a fan of Trump:

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/italian-prime-minister-renzi-trump-229926