Trump meets Elizabeth II: Queen’s speech

President Trump couldn’t be expected to wrap up his visit to Britain without a farewell foot-in-mouth event, and he hasn’t disappointed those who, despite all the contrary evidence so far, take what he says seriously.

In reporting what Britain’s Queen Elizabeth told him about Brexit, he violated the convention underpinning that country’s constitutional monarchy; the UK’s head of state is required to be neutral — and in public silent — on all political matters. As bombshells go, though, this one would leave even the queen’s finest china teapot unmarked. She is reported to have said she thought Brexit “a very complex problem”. That is not a political opinion. It’s an unarguable statement of painful fact on which even the most ardent Remainers and Leavers can agree.