By Kate Nicholson
Copyright huffingtonpost
Donald Trump apparently overlooked all the protests against his state visit to the UK when he touched down in central London last night.
The US president told reporters on Air Force One that his whistle-stop tour was going to “a beautiful event” and urged them to “enjoy yourselves, OK?”
Initially greeted by home secretary Yvette Cooper at Stansted, he and first lady Melania Trump were then whisked off to the US ambassador’s property in Regent’s Park and told broadcasters: “A lot of things here, they warm my heart.”
“Relationships are great,” he said, adding that the King has been a “friend of mine for a long time, and everybody respects him, they love him”.
But there are plenty of reasons this could turn into a rather gloomy affair, which the government – and the Royal Family – will desperately be trying to keep out of sight of the mercurial president while they woo him with pomp and ceremony.
Trump is yet to mention the sudden sacking of the UK’s ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson last week, when new details about his relationship with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.
To make matters worse, Trump himself has been fighting off criticisms over his own friendship with Epstein from his own MAGA fanbase in recent months.
And coming to Britain is evidently not the best way for him to escape the scandal: four protesters were arrested for projecting a photo of Trump and Epstein onto the wall of Windsor Castle last night.
Climate demonstrators also interrupted a dinner for Republicans in Windsor last night, challenging Trump’s famous “drill baby drill” mentality.
Holding banners which read, “oil money kills”, and beating drums, they shouted: “How many will you kill if you drill, baby, drill?”
According to The Independent, male guests appeared to forcibly remove the protesters.
Another protest, organised by the Stop Trump Coalition, is expected to gather at 2pm today, and start a 5pm rally in Parliament Square.
Around 1,600 police officers have been deployed to keep an eye on the demonstrations.
Still, Starmer will be hoping he can distract the president with flashy shows of grandeur with this “unprecedented” state visit.
Trump will be met by the Prince and Princess of Wales on Wednesday morning in Windsor, before being welcomed to the castle by King Charles and Queen Camilla.
The Palace is also set to unveil the largest military ceremony ever organised for a state visit in living memory, with a joint RAF and US air Force flypast and a Red Arrows demonstration.
While Trump is here for a good time, Starmer will be trying to get some politics done – and the government already announced a “tech prosperity deal” last night, which will be revealed in its entirety on Thursday when the leaders meet at Chequers.
Pressure is on Starmer to reduce US tariffs on steel and aluminium, too, but that plan seems to have been put on the backburner for now.
