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Key Points
- Donald Trump has started a historic second UK state visit with grandeur, security and royal pageantry.
- The day concluded with a lavish banquet, but protests and questions about ties to Jeffrey Epstein hang over the visit.
- UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hoping the royals can cajole Trump into further progress on trade.
United States President Donald Trump has hailed the special relationship between his country and the United Kingdom as he paid a tribute to King Charles during his historic second state visit, calling it one of the highest honours of his life.
It was a day of unprecedented pomp for a foreign leader on Wednesday.
Trump and his wife, Melania, were treated to the full array of British pageantry. Then, Trump praised his nation’s close ally.
“The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal. It’s irreplaceable and unbreakable,” Trump said in a speech during a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle, family home to British monarchs for almost 1,000 years,” Trump said.
“Seen from American eyes, the word special does not begin to do it justice,” he said of the relationship between the two countries.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is hoping the royals can persuade Trump to make further progress on trade.
Starmer proffered a state visit to win favour with Trump, the well-known Anglophile and overt royal fan, shortly after the US president returned to office in January.
Britain rolled out the royal red carpet, giving Trump the largest military ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory.
The first day of Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK concluded with a banquet at Windsor Castle. Source: AAP / PA / Phil Noble
Trump made little secret of his delight at being not just the first US leader, but the first elected politician to be invited for two state visits. “This is truly one of the highest honours of my life,” he said.
Over the course of the visit, Starmer is hoping to convert Trump’s affection for Britain — his mother came from Scotland — and admiration for the royals into concrete actions.
Companies, including Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, and OpenAI, have already pledged £31 billion ($63 billion) in British investments over the next few years, in AI, quantum computing, and civil nuclear energy.
Donald Trump called the bond between the US and UK “priceless and eternal”. Source: AAP / AP / Yui Mok
Starmer also wants further progress on trade, following Britain’s first deal with Trump to lower some tariffs. Talks may touch on remaining levies on steel, whisky and salmon.
“The United Kingdom was your partner in the first trade deal of your administration, Mr President, bringing jobs and growth to both our countries,” Charles said in his speech. “And no doubt we can go even further as we build this new era of our partnership.”
How popular is Donald Trump in the UK?
While Starmer is banking on the royals to help cajole the US president, pitfalls remain.
Polls show Trump is widely unpopular in the UK and Starmer, faced with plummeting poll ratings of his own and economic woes, will need to show his royal trump card can reap benefits.
Protesters in London demonstrated against Donald Trump’s visit to the UK. Source: AAP / EPA / Tolga Akmen
While there were many Trump supporters in crowds at Windsor in London, several thousand people marched to protest against the state visit.
“I quite simply dislike everything that Trump and his administration represent around the globe,” retiree Bryan Murray said.
Musician Billy Bragg performed at a protest against Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK. Source: AAP / PA / James Manning
Awkward questions about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein might also come to the fore.
Last week, Starmer sacked Peter Mandelson as UK’s ambassador to the US over his ties to Epstein. This could lead to questions for both Starmer and Trump, whose own relationship with the financier has come under scrutiny.
While the focus will shift to geopolitics and trade when Starmer hosts Trump at his Chequers country residence, the event at Windsor Castle was all about ceremony.
Donald Trump (left) was treated to a show of royal pageantry by King Charles and Queen Camilla. Source: AAP / AP / Kevin Lamarque
Trump and Melania joined Charles, his wife Queen Camilla and other royals and dignitaries for a carriage procession, with the route lined by 1,300 British service personnel.
Later, the Trumps viewed historical items from the Royal Collection related to the US, and then visited St George’s Chapel, the final resting place of Queen Elizabeth, who had hosted Trump for his first state visit in 2019, to lay a wreath on her tomb. She died in September 2022.
There was a further military parade and a flypast by Britain’s Red Arrows aerobatics team.
The UK laid on what it said was the largest military ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory. Source: AAP / PA / Jordan Pettitt
The Trumps also found time for a private meeting with Charles’ elder son, Prince William, and the heir’s wife, Kate, which was described by the prince’s spokesperson as “warm and friendly”.
Trump later praised “beautiful” Kate and said William was “going to have unbelievable success in the future”.
As for Charles, the 76-year-old monarch, he was a “very, very special man”, Trump said.
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