How Did Donald Trump Really Behave Around Queen Elizabeth?

Queen Elizabeth II has met with 13 out of 14 U.S. presidents during her 70-year-reign, per Town and Country. The beloved monarch has met with every president from Truman to Biden, except Lyndon Johnson. It's reported that Ronald Reagan is Elizabeth's favorite U.S. President, followed by former President Barack Obama. People reported that Elizabeth and Reagan bonded over their love of horses and the queen enjoyed sharing a drink with first lady Nancy Reagan. While Obama broke royal protocol when he met the queen in 2009, the monarch became a big fan of the president and first lady Michelle Obama.

Of course, Elizabeth also met former President Donald Trump during his time in office. According to U.S. Russia expert Fiona Hill's new book, "There Is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century," the anecdotes about Trump and the queen are surprising, to say the least. If the name "Fiona Hill" sounds familiar, it's because Hill was one of the witnesses in Trump's first impeachment trial. Her anecdotes about Trump's view of the British monarch show a different side of the 45th president, and are actually, surprisingly, kind of sweet. 

Fiona Hill's new book, "There Is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the 21st Century," reports that former President Donald Trump was "awestruck" by Queen Elizabeth II and "obsessed" with meeting the British monarch. The former Russian presidential advisor said part of Trump's reverence for the queen was tied to his late mother. "Meeting Queen Elizabeth II was particularly important to President Trump," Hill wrote, per Business Insider. "He often referred in conversation to his mother, Mary Anne Mac-Leod, who was originally from Scotland, and her admiration for Queen Elizabeth."

Hill explained in the book that Trump wanted a visit to the United Kingdom planned right after taking office as he viewed meeting Elizabeth as the "ultimate sign that he, Trump, had made it in life." Hill added that Trump was fixated on a state visit to the United Kingdom and began dropping hints in "every encounter" with then-Prime Minister Theresa May.

Hill isn't the first author to notice Trump's love of the British monarchy. Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio, author of the 2019 book "The Truth About Trump," told The New York Times that "The Queen may be one of the only people on Earth who could expect he was going to be respectful." D'Antonio also agreed with Hill that Trump's love of the British Royal Family goes back to his mother, and said "...one of his dying thoughts will be ... 'I was that person, standing with the queen.'"