A week after winning one of the most volatile elections in decades, President-elect Donald Trump spoke via phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May and told her, "If you travel to the U.S., you should let me know," an impromptu invite that only came after he had spoken with nine other world leaders. According to one report, the phone call "left civil servants amused and befuddled," and, as political blogger Steve Benen notes, in Trump's mind "the British prime minister might have plans to swing by America for a visit, in which case, the president-elect hoped May would give him a heads-up. What Trump doesn’t realize is that May would only come if invited."

These same civil servants were less amused, however, when Trump, in a break with diplomatic protocol, suggested that Britain should name Nigel Farage, a key figure in the successful "Brexit" referendum who ran an anti-immigrant platform, its ambassador to Washington.