Donald Trump arrived in Britain last night, landing with his wife Melania at Stansted airport before taking a helicopter to central London. His visit comes amid a surge in American-style political rhetoric being adopted by the British nationalist right, from 'deep state' warnings to MAGA hats at rallies.
This borrowing of US political style has been visible across the right-wing spectrum, from Kemi Badenoch to Tommy Robinson. At Saturday's far-right rally in London, participants wore MAGA hats, heard speeches from Elon Musk and Stephen Bannon, and paid tribute to the assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the event as representing 'the fight of our times between patriotic national renewal and decline and toxic division'.
Examples of transatlantic influence include Liz Truss complaining about the 'deep state', Nigel Farage promising to 'make Britain great again', and Reform UK proposing Doge-style units to root out council waste. Terms like 'woke' and 'DEI' have supplanted older British phrases such as 'political correctness' and 'positive discrimination'.
However, it remains unclear how much this resonates with the wider voting public, given Trump's relative unpopularity in the UK. The right's attraction to a style that turns off many voters raises questions about its effectiveness in a political culture based on relentless nativism.
