Trump’s second state visit to the UK will be met by royal pomp, protests

The United Kingdom is set to roll out the royal red carpet for United States President Donald Trump’s second state visit to the country, with an extraordinary show of pomp and pageantry unfolding entirely behind closed doors, far from planned protests in London.

King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday before trade talks the next day with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British leader’s rural retreat.

Trump’s visit to London coincides with critical trade negotiations between the US and many of its key trading partners, including the UK. During his stay, both countries plan to announce several deals on technology and civil nuclear energy, and British leaders hope to finalise an agreement on metal tariffs.

If the UK authorities’ goal was to make Trump feel most welcome, it appeared to be working, as he arrived by helicopter at the US ambassador’s official residence in London on Tuesday night with First Lady Melania Trump.

“A lot of things here warm my heart,” said Trump, whose mother hailed from Scotland and who has two golf courses in the UK. He described Charles, 76, who is undergoing treatment for cancer, as “my friend”.

This state visit is “certainly unprecedented”, said media’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from Windsor Castle, about 40km (25 miles) west of central London.

“The UK government hopes that all the glitter and glamour of a state visit and all that entails, mixing with the royals, the pomp and the pageantry, will put Donald Trump in a good mood and make him more malleable to perhaps negotiate on trade” and more willing to heed Starmer on certain foreign policy matters, said Veselinovic.

The US president’s day will begin with heir to the throne Prince William and his wife Catherine welcoming the Trumps to Windsor Castle, the home of the British royals for nearly a millennium.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are then due to join them for a carriage procession through the grounds of Windsor estate towards the castle – again behind closed doors.