Science

US, UK to announce US$10 billion in deals during Trump visit: US officials

By Reuters

Copyright scmp

US, UK to announce US$10 billion in deals during Trump visit: US officials

The United States and Britain plan to announce more than US$10 billion in economic deals this week as part of US President Donald Trump’s state visit, senior US officials said on Monday.
The two governments are expected to seal a trade agreement with three pillars: a new science and technology partnership to strengthen the tech sectors of both countries, cooperation in civil nuclear power, and advances in defence technology cooperation, the officials said in a telephone briefing.
Several US tech business leaders are expected to attend the state visit, the officials said.
The US president and first lady Melania Trump are to arrive late on Tuesday for talks with King Charles and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at Windsor Castle and a state dinner that evening.
Trump will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday and they plan a joint news conference. Trump returns to Washington on Thursday night.
Trump is the first US president to be invited to two state dinners by Britain. His first was in 2019 during his first term.
The US officials described agreements to come that would be heavy on economic cooperation between the two long-standing allies with at least US$10 billion in deals expected.
“This visit gives the president the opportunity to strengthen ties with a particularly close partner and ally, while advancing mutual economic and foreign policy interests,” one of the US officials said.

British police said on Monday they had planned for “just about every eventuality” ahead of Trump’s state visit, with the bulk of the trip being held out of public view.
Trump will be treated to the usual display of British royal pageantry, including a carriage tour and a lavish banquet.
Large crowds are expected in Windsor and anti-Trump protesters have said they want to make their views known.
The high-profile trip comes after last week’s killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, a staunch ally of Trump, fuelling fears of a spike in political violence in the United States.
“I’m very content that we have planned a very comprehensive policing and security operation that has taken into consideration just about every eventuality of what could happen,” Assistant Chief Constable Christian Bunt of Thames Valley Police told reporters.
Asked whether Kirk’s killing had influenced the policing operation for the visit, Bunt said their plans were kept under constant review.
“Naturally we just reviewed everything … with our US Secret Service colleagues as well to make sure everyone was content with where we are, and that is the case,” he said.
Bunt said there would be a significant, highly visible police presence, although he declined to say how many officers were being deployed.
Airspace over Windsor and Chequers would be closed and specialist officers would be ready to deal with any protest that might take place, he added.
“It’s important to highlight that both the Windsor state visit and the meeting at Chequers are in the private grounds of Windsor and Chequers respectively, so there will be no public-facing element,” Bunt said.