President Joe Biden’s plans of attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II are rife with speculation about Donald Trump accompanying the delegation.
“I don’t know what the details are yet but I will be going,” the president had confirmed on Friday after Buckingham Palace announced the passing of the monarch at Balmoral, her longtime home in Scotland.
The funeral, expected to take place around 19 September in the same church where the Queen was crowned in 1953, will attract presidents, prime ministers and leaders from across the globe.
However, Mr Biden’s trip has been accompanied with conjecture about whether the president will ask his predecessor to join the group of leaders paying their respects to the Queen.
While remembering her for her “faithfulness” to her country, Mr Trump condoled the passing of the longest-serving monarch. But he has not commented on whether he will attend the funeral in London.
During a discussion on CNN, host Jake Tapper said it would be “left up to President Biden as to whether or not he brings other [former] presidents with him to the Queen’s funeral” as he added it would be a “clever move” to invite him.
“I mean the UK has made it very clear that’s up to the president. He is invited. He can bring whatever delegation. So, obviously [Barack] Obama, [Jimmy] Carter, [George] Bush, no brainers,” he said, referring to the cordial relationships Mr Biden shares with the former presidents.
“What about Trump? Will he invite Trump?” asked Tapper.
“I am told by a couple of diplomatic officials that look Buckingham Palace is leaving up to every country individually,” replied Jeff Zeleny, CNN’s chief national affairs correspondent.
“In this case, it would be easy if Trump was not in the picture,” he said, pointing out that Mr Obama had attended Nelson Mandela’s funeral in 2013 with his two immediate predecessors, Mr Bush and Bill Clinton.
The former president and the current head of state are currently embroiled in a war of words ahead of the November mid-terms. Mr Biden has sharpened his attacks on Mr Trump and Maga Republicans for posing a threat to democracy and has likened the philosophy undergirding the dominant strain of the modern-day GOP to “semi-fascism”.
“Who knows, may be in the spirit of forgiving and giving, President Biden will invite Donald Trump on the Air Force One,” Zeleny said on the show.
“I doubt that will happen but I do expect some type of bipartisan delegation,” he said, adding that the White House will not say anything about this until Buckingham Palace makes funeral arrangements.
“I think that the clever move is to invite him,” chimed in Tapper. “And see if he goes. I don’t think President Trump, former President Trump, would want to be subordinate on Air Force I. And I think, probably, he prefers his own plane anyway.”
Mr Trump earlier spoke to far-right ex-politician and British broadcaster Nigel Farage, where he recalled talking to the Queen “all night long” when he met her in 2019.
“We had a good chemistry. And then as you remember that evening there was a big celebration and I sat next to the Queen, and we just talked all night long. She was incredible. She was incredible to speak to and so sharp. Her mind was so sharp and just to be with her was something very special,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fox News host Jesse Watters was skewered for repeating the former president’s claim that the Queen “never had a better time” than when she met Mr Trump.
“The abject desperation of [Jesse Watters] is fascinating,” historian Brooks Simpson tweeted.
“Trump was a classless oaf,” actor Heather Thomas added.
