After an extraordinary interview with The Sun in which Trump criticised Theresa May’s handling of Brexit and tipped Cabinet turncoat Boris Johnson for Number 10, the Prime Minister could be forgiven for already feeling tired of her controversial guest.
However, Twitter users believe they have a solution, urging May to channel Hugh Grant’s prime minister character in Love Actually and hit back at Trump.
In a scene from the 2003 romcom, the PM breaks from diplomatic protocol to give Billy Bob Thornton's boorish US president a public dressing-down which many of Trump’s British detractors found spookily prescient today.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Grant warns that the “special relationship” has become a “bad relationship”, one “based on the president taking exactly what he wants, and casually ignoring all those things that really matter to Britain”.
"We may be a small country, but we’re a great one too,” he says, before listing iconic Britons from Shakespeare to The Beatles.
The fictional PM ends his inspiring speech with this warning: "A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward I will be prepared to be much stronger - and the president should be prepared for that.”
For many, it was the perfect rallying cry against Trump, who has frequently been derided as a “bully” for his strongarm approach to diplomacy and readiness to insult allies and rivals alike.
As Love Actually started trending, BBC Three’s Twitter account even attempted a - distinctly dodgy - video mockup of what such a scene might look like:
Elsewhere, users enjoyed sharing their favourite signs from the Trump protests taking place in Blenheim Palace last night and in the capital today, ranging from witty jabs at the president’s supposed admiration of Winston Churchill:
To messages you might describe as “straight to the point”:
-
The Week Unwrapped: Can bullfighting win over young SpaniardsPodcast Plus, is online fandom inherently unhealthy? And is Putin’s economy running out of gas?
-
Heirs and Graces: an ‘enthralling’ deep dive into the decline of nobilityThe Week Recommends Eleanor Doughty explores the ‘bizarre fascination’ with the British aristocracy
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A monstrous pumpkin, a sumo showdown, and more
-
Trump says he authorized covert CIA ops in VenezuelaSpeed Read He is also considering military strikes inside the country
-
Are inflatable costumes and naked bike rides helping or hurting ICE protests?Talking Points Trump administration efforts to portray Portland and Chicago as dystopian war zones have been met with dancing frogs, bare butts and a growing movement to mock MAGA doomsaying
-
‘Are we just going to stand in passive witness to the degradation of our democracy?’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Venezuela: Does Trump want war?Feature Donald Trump has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of leading a drug cartel and waging a narco-terrorism campaign against the United States
-
Two years on, a Gaza truce may be in sightFeature Israel and Hamas consider the U.S.’ 20-point peace plan exchanging hostages for prisoners
-
Trump declares end to Gaza war, ‘dawn’ of new MideastSpeed Read Hamas freed the final 20 living Israeli hostages and Israel released thousands of Palestinian detainees
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Has the Gaza deal saved Netanyahu?Today's Big Question With elections looming, Israel’s longest serving PM will ‘try to carry out political alchemy, converting the deal into political gold’
