President Trump’s visit has been designed to fall at a time when the House of Commons is in recess to avoid inviting him to address MPs and peers, it is understood.
The US president will have an “unprecedented” second state visit in September, which will include a state banquet at Windsor Castle.
Unlike President Macron, however, Trump will not be invited to address politicians in Westminster as his visit will fall when MPs are away for party conference season.
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The House of Commons breaks for recess on September 16 and the House of Lords does so two days later. The president’s visit is scheduled for the last two weeks of September.
Trump is expected to visit his golf course this summer, when Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly planning to meet with him. However, the King will not be available and is not expected to see the president until he returns for his official visit in September.
The president met the Prince of Wales during his first state visit in 2019
TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS
Palace sources said state visits take place on the advice of the British government.
While addresses to the Commons are a matter for the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, it is understood that he was not consulted about the date of the state visit.
However, the Trump visit has put the King in an unusual predicament. As the King of Canada, Charles has shown his support for the country in the face of aggression from the US.
The King’s plans for an initial informal visit, as outlined in a letter to Trump, have been scrapped, with Starmer bringing forward the full state visit.
Last month, UK officials hand-delivered the “manu regia” to the White House, the official document of invitation for a state visit.
The Times understands that the palace raised concerns about Trump’s threats to Canada, in which he suggested that the Commonwealth realm could become the “51st state”.
The timing of the visit offers the King a concession as it does not allow Trump the opportunity to address the Commons.
That privilege has previously been extended to his predecessors Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan. President Zelensky, with whom Trump clashed acrimoniously in the Oval Office earlier this year, gave a speech to both houses of parliament in Westminster Hall in 2023. Nelson Mandela and Charles de Gaulle are among other foreign leaders to have addressed parliament.
• Macron’s state visit was about much more than Channel crossings
Macron used his address to MPs and peers in the Royal Gallery on Tuesday to criticise “excessive dependencies” on the US as he took a much more distant approach to Trump than that of Starmer.
President Macron spoke to MPs and peers in the Royal Gallery
ALASTAIR GRANT/AP
Macron also said that the UK and France had a “shared responsibility to address irregular migration” and added that Britain could not “stay on the sidelines” of Europe post-Brexit.
The state visits are being held at Windsor Castle while renovation work continues on Buckingham Palace.
US security assessments are likely to restrict the ceremonial aspects of Trump’s visit, as has been the case with other US presidents.
When Trump came for his first state visit in 2019, he did not take part in a carriage procession down the Mall, and the same is expected to apply in September. The Palace is now understood to be looking at creative ways to add some form of ceremony to the visit “without a full public carriage ride element”.
Trump will still have a chance to speak, however.
Trump gave a speech at the state banquet in 2019, praising the Queen’s “truly remarkable reign”
DOMINIC LIPINSKI/PA
It is traditional for speeches to be made at the banquet during a state visit. These tend to be lighter in tone than addresses given at Westminster and offer an opportunity for both the King and the visiting head of state to reflect on the relationship between the two countries over the years.
Last time, Trump spoke of the “eternal friendship” between the two countries and praised the “long cherished and truly remarkable reign” of Queen Elizabeth.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment.