President Trump will undertake an unprecedented second state visit to the UK in September during which he will be hosted by the King at a Windsor Castle banquet.
Trump will be accompanied by the first lady, Melania, for the three-day visit between September 17 and 19, which was confirmed by Buckingham Palace this morning.
The trip will make Trump, who is in his second term, the first world leader in modern times to undertake a second state visit to the country, something he has described as an honour.
Trump’s first state visit was with Queen Elizabeth in 2019
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE
Organising the trip has posed a politically sensitive task for Sir Keir Starmer and the King, who have differed on the timing.
The prime minister has been keen to curry favour with the US president despite reservations from the Palace about Trump’s recent threats to Canada. As head of state for Canada, the King has been put in a difficult position by Trump’s repeated suggestion that the country could become the 51st US state.
The Palace is understood to have raised concerns with government officials about rushing into a visit because the King is not keen to be seen lauding Trump while he was “impugning his sovereignty” over Canada.
In 2019 Trump’s praised the late Queen’s “long-cherished and truly remarkable reign”
DOMINIC LIPINSKI/WPA/GETTY IMAGES
The King had used a letter hand-delivered by Starmer in February to outline his desire for Trump to undertake an initial informal visit to discuss a state visit, either at Dumfries House or Balmoral in Scotland. Second term presidents are not traditionally offered a state visit and are usually invited to a meeting with the monarch at Windsor Castle.
The King’s desire for a more considered approach and a state visit later in the second term was opposed by Starmer who brought the visit forward, capitalising on Trump’s obsession with the royal family. State visits take place on the advice of the government.
The prime minister and the president are expected to meet when Trump visits his golf course in Aberdeenshire this summer.
The “manu regia”, the formal document required to initiate a state visit, was signed by the King and delivered to the White House last month. The visit has been designed to fall at a time when the House of Commons is in recess to avoid Trump being invited to address MPs. The House of Commons breaks for recess on September 16 for party conference season. Starmer will also avoid the possible embarrassment of a pool of his MPs boycotting such an address.
Trump’s predecessors, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, have been offered the privilege of addressing the Commons. President Macron is the most recent foreign leader to address the Commons. In a speech to MPs and peers at the Royal Gallery last week he urged the UK to curb its dependence on the US.
Like the French president, Trump’s state visit will take place at Windsor Castle while Buckingham Palace is still undergoing renovation work.
Trump will have an opportunity to make an address during the banquet. Speaking in April, he said: “It’s an honour … I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family.”
His desire for pomp and ceremony will probably be curtailed by US security assessments, as has been the case with other US presidential visits.
Trump’s last state visit was in 2019 when he was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II. He praised her “long-cherished and truly remarkable reign”.