In Trump’s first term, the family ceased foreign commercial deals. This time round they have abandoned that commitment. Don Jr and his brother Eric have spent the past year on a worldwide moneymaking campaign, from the Balkans to Vietnam. Official filings show that profits continue to flow to the president.

This, the Trumps’ critics say, creates conflicts of interest while the president wields his powers on everything from pardons to tariffs. The White House said: “Neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.”

But the blurring of public office and personal gain is changing how the world tries to decipher American power. So when Don Jr turns up without public explanation to hold meetings in a tiny British outpost, the question that arises is: why?

The Trumps’ only obvious connection to Gibraltar runs via the president’s demolition of the east wing of the White House to make way for a gaudy $300m (£220m) ballroom. In October, he published a list of donors to the project. Alongside tech companies and weapons manufacturers was a Russian-born US businessman, Konstantin Sokolov.