The visit has been abridged and the agenda radically rewritten. But this weekend's informal meeting in Crawford, Texas, between President Bush and the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, will provide an important sounding board for the President as he launches his new Middle East initiative.
Before leaving London yesterday, Mr Blair warned, in an NBC interview, that the Israeli-Palestinian violence "has the makings of a catastrophe".
He said Mr Bush had taken the right step in trying to engage both sides, but cautioned that the US may need to make additional moves to get a political track going.
"The Israelis should come out of Ramallah and the Occupied Territories and the Palestinians should stop the terror and the violence," he said. "But it's not going to stop in my view until there is a proper political process in place."
The two men pride themselves on being the staunchest of allies in the war on terrorism and having a personal relationship that goes well beyond diplomatic niceties.
Moreover, Mr Blair sees the British role as an important bridge between the US and its less understanding European allies. That gap of comprehension is likely to be central to the discussion, now likely to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian question rather than Mr Bush's campaign against Iraq, as originally planned.
Mr Blair had planned to bring with him a detailed outline of the case against President Saddam Hussein, which he was expected to publish shortly.
Events in Palestine, however, have pushed back publication, and the time-frame for possible US action, and he has left the dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction threat in London.
But, faced with a backbench revolt, Mr Blair is expected to urge on the President a diplomatic rather than military approach to the issue.
The agenda has also been shortened because of the death of the Queen Mother, with Mr and Mrs Blair flying out after yesterday's memorial service and returning for the funeral on Tuesday.
That has also meant a curtailment of the recreational side of the visit with US officials playing down, and discouraging photographs of, the boots-and-barbecue elements of the weekend and the children of the two families now staying away.
NATO enlargement, which will be decided at a summit of allied nations in November in Prague, the ongoing international campaign in Afghanistan, and a number of trade disputes between the EU and the US are also likely to be discussed.
PA adds:
Earlier yesterday Mr Blair said: "The pressure we can best apply is to try to bring both sides together - because they are not, frankly, going to be able to do this on their own - to establish,first of all, the minimum steps of security necessary to restore confidence and then get into the situation where the proper political dialogue can begin."
Mr Blair said he wanted to see a return to negotiations "as soon as possible".
He welcomed the US Secretary of State's mission to the region, saying: "Colin Powell will be going directly on the back of the statement by President Bush, and that statement was very strong and very clear."
Mr Blair added: "It is necessary for the Palestinians to do everything they can to halt the acts of terrorism and suicide bombings, and Israel has to get out of the Occupied Territories and Ramallah."
