By Arielle Domb,Sian Baldwin and Charlotte Ambrose
Copyright standard
US President Donald Trump is set to arrive in the UK for his unprecedented second state visit to the country.
The trip has sparked controversy and thousands are expected to take part in a series of anti-Trump protesters.
Here’s what we know about the US President’s two-day visit:
Trump’s Air Force One is expected to touch down at Stansted Airport Tuesday evening carrying the president and First Lady Melania.
After arriving in the UK, Mr and Mrs Trump will be greeted by Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper, as well as Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, and Viscount Hood, Lord-in-Waiting.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed over an invitation from King Charles to visit the UK during a trip to the White House in February.
The King suggested meeting at either Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland — owned by the King since 2007— or Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire.
The invitation apparently surprised the US President. After reading the letter, he said he accepted and that it would be an “honour” to visit the “fantastic” country.
Buckingham Palace has released the schedule for the President’s two-day visit.
There will be no public-facing element on the first day of his state visit, when the President will remain within the private Windsor Castle’s estate, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
The Trumps will remain in the castle’s private estate on Wednesday and stay at the royal residence overnight.
They will be given a royal salute and meet with King Charles and Prince William again.
The Trumps will be treated to a carriage procession through the Windsor estate with the King and Queen, as well as the Prince and Princess of Wales, along a route towards the castle lined by members of the Armed Forces, with three military bands from the Royal Marines, the Army and the RAF.
Trump, accompanied by Charles, is set to inspect the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle.
The US president and First Lady will join some 160 guests in the impressive St George’s Hall for an extravagant banquet.
In a tradition started by the King, a bespoke cocktail will be created specially for the occasion, no doubt celebrating the “special relationship” between the UK and the US.
The King and Queen will head members of the royal family, with the Prince of Wales expected to attend, and the Princess of Wales likely, but not yet confirmed, to join him, along with other Windsors.
The monarch will be seated next to Mr Trump in the middle of one side of the table, with Mrs Trump and Camilla opposite them on the other side.
At Mr Macron’s banquet, Kate was seated next to the president at his right hand side, while William was opposite, next to France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron.
Other royals will be spread around the table between the guests.
Absent will be the disgraced Duke of York, who attended last time but since then was forced to step down from the working monarchy over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The attending royals have yet to be announced, but at the last state banquet for Mr Trump in 2019, there were 16 family members..
After the pomp and ceremony, Mr Trump will be whisked away to the Prime Minister’s country residence Chequers for a day of hard politics and soft power.
The prime minister will take his US counterpart through the Winston Churchill archives before they sit down for an official bilateral meeting.
That will be followed by a reception with business leaders including representatives from GSK, Microsoft and Rolls-Royce.
The pair will have lunch together before hosting a joint press conference.
Meanwhile, Mrs Trump will stay behind at Windsor, where she will carry out a joint engagement with the Princess of Wales in Frogmore Gardens, meeting Chief Scout Dwayne Fields and members of the Scouts’ Squirrels programme as they learn about nature to achieve their Go Wild badge.
The First Lady will later fly to Chequers to be reunited with her husband before they jet back to the US.
In 2019, Queen Elizabeth II hosted Mr Trump for a state visit during his first presidency.
It is highly unusual for a US president to receive a second state visit during a second term. George W. Bush and Barack Obama were instead invited for tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.
Mr Starmer faced calls to cancel the visit following Trump and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky’s tense showdown at the White House in February.
During the televised meeting, Trump accused the Ukrainian president of “gambling with World War Three” and expressed frustration over what he saw as a lack of gratitude for US support.
Since then, the Trump administration paused military aid to Ukraine, suspending the delivery of billions of dollars’ worth of arms and other assistance previously approved under the Biden administration.
An online petition calling for Starmer to “immediately cancel the offer of a second state visit for Donald Trump” gained more than 190,000 signatures.
The petition describes Trump’s invitation as “unbelievable,” stating: “This is the same Donald Trump who, in recent weeks, has cosied up to Putin, escalated trade tariffs, slashed global aid, and berated Ukrainian President Zelensky in the White House.”
Yes. Campaigners hay they will demonstrate against what they called “our government’s choice to honour a man who is violating human rights in the United States and around the world”.
The Stop Trump Coalition have organised a big “Trump Not Welcome” protest in central London on Wednesday.
They are asking people to meet at 2pm at Portland Place with the rally beginning from 5pm at Parliament Square.
A spokesman said: “Full details of the route, as well as rally speakers, our plans in Windsor and more will be coming soon.”
There will be other protests by the Stop Trump Coalition from Edinburgh to Windsor, the group said, with a protest in the Berkshire town on Tuesday expected to be a small event for local people.
Meanwhile, Socialist Students said hundreds of students have pledged to walk out of schools, colleges and universities across the country on Wednesday.
The group said: “The walkouts are a chance for young people to protest against Trump as well as Starmer’s Labour government, which has rolled out the red carpet for the US president”.
