Queen Elizabeth met with 13 American presidents. Who was her favorite?
President Trump’s first and only state dinner with Queen Elizabeth was a highlight for him and a sign of his success.
When President Trump arrived on Marine One in 2019, Queen Elizabeth was dismayed to find that the flowers in Buckingham Palace’s garden were flattened.
But the state visit to the country was a highlight of Trump’s first term and valuable for Britain as it builds a relationship with the controversial US president. A few weeks later, the Queen used that relationship to facilitate a diplomatic counterattack.
Here are five takeaways from USA TODAY’s Susan Page’s new book, Queens and Presidents: The Hidden Hands That Shaped History. The book, published by Harper, explores the Queen’s relationships with a series of US presidents, from her tense days as a young princess visiting President Harry Truman to attending the final state dinner of her 70-year reign in Trump’s honor.
1. “It ruined the garden.”
On June 3, 2019, the President and First Lady Melania Trump arrived at Buckingham Palace on Marine One.
Her Majesty the Queen watched in horror from the palace steps as a whirlwind of helicopter wings flattened the flowers, leaving divots on the lawn. “She was furious about it,” said a senior palace aide.
She was still steaming when Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrived later. “Come and see my lawn,” she told him. “It’s in ruins.”
2. Quiz for the Queen
During a lively conversation at the Gilded State Dinner that night, President Trump unsuccessfully tried to persuade the queen to bring up the 14 other U.S. presidents he had met, 12 of them while in office.
“I said, ‘So, can I ask who your favorite president was?'” he said.
She answered, “Why? Everyone was so nice.”
He was dazzled by her charming technique of turning. “I couldn’t get her to say bad things about people.”
3. What about Harry and Meghan?
Her judgment also included Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, their wayward grandson and his controversial bride. Seven months later, they announced they were stepping down from their duties as senior royals.
No one would have missed the melodramatic saga surrounding them, but Trump is almost certainly one of the few guests to raise the topic directly with Elizabeth.
“I asked her about it constantly,” Trump said. “I say, ‘Come on, tell me the truth.'”
She answered, “No, no, very good.”
Trump was not persuaded. “I think it really hurt her,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t think they treat her with the respect she deserves.”
4. Important royal calls
Three weeks after President Trump made his triumphant return to London, trouble arose.
A devastating assessment of the president written by Kim Darroch, the British ambassador to the US, two years ago has been leaked to British intelligence. sunday mail. Darroch wrote that Trump “radiated anxiety” and led a dysfunctional administration.
Trump was furious. Mr Darroch was forced to resign.
There, he received a phone call from the Queen and a conversation that had not been previously reported took place. “She couldn’t believe it. She thought he was a terrible person,” Trump said. “She apologized,” he said, justifying it. “That wasn’t an apology.”
“She didn’t call (Mr. Darroch) stupid, but she basically showed him that he is a stupid person,” Trump said.
Whatever she said was enough. The crisis is over.
5. Trump has a theory.
The Queen refused to answer questions, but then President Trump said others had told her she had a favorite president.
It was him.
“We just got along,” Trump said. His ambassador, Woody Johnson, agreed. “The president has a very keen sense of things like that,” Johnson said.
Several senior officials in the palace and British government reacted with surprise and laughter at the idea that her relationship with President Trump might have matched the affection she felt for some of her predecessors. Dwight Eisenhower was a wartime hero, and Ronald Reagan was a friend who bonded over horses and Hollywood. Her fondness for Barack Obama struck officials on both sides of the Atlantic.
Some former presidents and first ladies were also skeptical.
As Joe Biden shook his head, Jill Biden said, “That’s hysterical.” “Oh, that certainly fits his personality.”
Hillary Clinton responded, “Why am I not surprised by that?” She added, “I don’t think there’s any evidence to believe that that could be true.”
Bill Clinton recalled conversations he had with Obama and Biden in 2024. “At Ethel Kennedy’s funeral, we all joked about how she was trying to make all the Democratic presidents think she was their favorite. And she was shrewd about it, Ethel was. And Queen Elizabeth was no dummy either. She knew what she was doing…”
Bill Clinton said he would have been “shocked” if Elizabeth had identified a favorite. “I have no idea what she really thought of us. All I know is… how I felt about her and that I thought she was someone really special.”
Susan Page is USA TODAY’s Washington bureau chief and the bestselling author of biographies of Barbara Bush, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Walters.
Click here to reserve “The Queen and the President.”
