Only one in three Brits would accept an offer to meet with Donald Trump at the White House
The London Evening Standard recently reported that Donald Trump’s first visit to the UK is set to be downgraded to a “working visit”, rather than a full state visit.
In February this year when the issue was first being discussed, YouGov found that more than one in three (36%) of Brits didn’t want the president’s planned state visit to the UK to go ahead.
But what if it was the other way round and people in this country were given a personal invitation to meet Donald Trump at the White House – how many would accept and how would this compare to acceptance rates for other world leaders?
New YouGov data shows that the majority of Brits (56%) would turn down the opportunity to visit the Washington DC if they received an invite from the US President. Only one in three (36%) would accept, putting Donald Trump at the bottom of the list of five leaders we asked about – slightly behind Vladimir Putin (whose invitation 38% would accept and 51% reject).
The most desirable trip, according to Brits, would be one to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Three quarters (73%) would accept a meeting with her majesty, while only 19% would turn down the offer.
A few streets away, at 10 Downing Street, Theresa May by contrast could only expect to receive 54% of the guests she had invited. About a third (35%) of Brits would turn down an offer to meet the Prime Minister in her house.
Finally, a slim majority (51%) of Britons would be willing to meet the Pope at the Vatican if they were blessed with an invitation, while 38% would remain home.
Accepting exceptions
Young people – those aged 18-24 – are the age group most likely to accept pretty much all of the invitations. The only exception was meeting Theresa May, which was more popular among those aged 65+.
Politics plays a role in some cases. Leave voters are more willing to meet Donald Trump (44%) and Vladimir Putin (43%) than those who voted Remain (27% and 34% respectively). YouGov tracking data has long established that both leaders are more popular among Leave voters than Remainers.
Likewise, Conservative voters are much more likely to want to meet Theresa May than Labour or Lib Dem voters (76%, vs 43% and 48% respectively).
Photo: Getty
