President Donald Trump arrives in Britain on Tuesday for an unprecedented second state visit by a U.S. leader that will include plenty of pomp and pageantry and protests by critics of Trump.
By Susy Hodges
President Trump and his wife Melania will be feted by King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales and treated to a lavish display of British royal pageantry during their 3-day visit.
On Wednesday, the first full day of Trump’s visit, King Charles will host the U.S. leader at Windsor Castle, near London, the oldest inhabited castle in the world and a family home to British monarchs for almost 1,000 years.
Trump will be greeted by the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine before being formally welcomed by the King and Queen as a royal gun salute is fired in Windsor and at the Tower of London. The U.S. leader and his wife, together with the four royals, will then take part in a carriage procession through the Windsor estate.
Following a state lunch, President Trump will visit St. George’s Chapel in the castle to pay his respects to the late Queen Elizabeth and lay a wreath on her tomb.
Afterwards Trump will view a special military ceremony that will conclude with a flypast by British and U.S. military jets.
In the evening, King Charles will host a white tie state banquet for his American guests, during which both he and Trump will deliver speeches.
On Thursday President Trump will travel to Chequers, the country residence of the British Prime Minister for talks with Sir Keir Starmer. The British government is hoping to secure a more favourable tariff regime on its steel exports and the two nations are expected to announce more than 10 billion dollars in economic deals this week as part of Trump’s visit.
But not everybody will be rolling out the red carpet for the U.S. President during his state visit to Britain. The Stop Trump coalition is planning a “Trump Not Welcome” demonstration in London on Wednesday. It had called on the British government to cancel his visit, accusing the U.S. leader of “denying climate science” and siding with what it called “war criminals in Israel, Russia and beyond.”
