When President Trump’s motorcade, including the aptly named limousine The Beast, sweeps along the Mall on Monday it will be just the third time a US president has made an official State Visit to the UK.
The Queen has met 12 of the 13 White House occupants in office during her reign (she never met Lyndon B Johnson) but only George W Bush, Barack Obama and now Mr Trump have been treated to a grand state visit.
As well as a banquet, wreath-laying ceremony, and business breakfast, the event is likely to be accompanied – from a distance – by the phone-wielding, nappy wearing inflatable which caricatures Mr Trump as a giant baby, and protesters are also promising a16ft talking robot of Mr Trump sitting on a gold toilet will pay a visit.
But, unlike last year’s “working trip” to the UK, there will be no visit to Scotland and no time for golf.
Details of the itinerary for Donald Trump’s stay have been published by Buckingham Palace ahead of the arrival of the president and his entourage on Monday. They include a private lunch with the Queen for the US President and First Lady, and will also see Mr Trump attend a commemorative event marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, in Portsmouth.
The State Visit has been more than two years in the making, coming 857 days after the Queen first issued an invitation seven days after Mr Trump took office. Theresa May was the first foreign leader to meet Mr Trump after his inauguration in January 2017, in Washington where they were pictured holding hands and both paid tribute to the US-UK “special relationship”. Mrs May initially said Mr Trump had agreed that he would make a State Visit to the UK later that year, but the plans were postponed.
The President’s latest visit will form something of a last hurrah for the Prime Minister who departs on June 7th. However there is also the potential for embarrassment for Mrs May after Mr Trump hinted that he may meet with Conservative leadership favourite Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, whose Brexit Party trounced the Tories in the recent EU elections. Mr Trump describes both men as friends of his and previously praised Mr Johnson as a potential future prime minister just days after he had resigned from Mrs May’s cabinet.
Buckingham Palace said the US President would arrive aboard Airforce One, the presidential jet, on Monday morning, ahead of an official welcome at the Palace. The Queen will host the President and First Lady Melania Trump for a private lunch at Buckingham Palace. Then, accompanied by the Duke of York the couple will lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey. The president will be treated to tea at Clarence House with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall before a State Banquet in the evening, again hosted by the Queen.
Tuesday will see the President attend 10 Downing Street while in the evening it will be Donald and Melania Trump’s turn to host, with a dinner at Winfield House, the official resident of the US ambassador to Britain.
The State Visit concludes on Wednesday, when the Queen, the Prince of Wales, the President and Mrs Trump will join more than 300 veterans for an official National Commemorative event for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Southsea Common, Portsmouth.
The President’s visit will be accompanied by a huge security operation. Scotland Yard said it has an experienced team ready to police events, but the President will also bring his own security. For the President’s last official trip it was claimed as many as 1,000 staff accompanied him. This time he will be joined by secret service agents, military specialists, White House aides and staff and security for his wife and family.
Protests outside Buckingham Palace on Monday during the State banquet will be followed by a “carnival of resistance” and march starting in Trafalgar Square., while regional protests are planned in cities including Manchester, Birmingham, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh - the latter two taking place in Buchanan Street and at St Giles Cathedral, both on Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson for Stand up to Trump said: “We will be bringing central London to a standstill. By the time he leaves he will know, and the world will know that people here reject him and his toxic politics.”
On Wednesday the visit will end when Mr Trump flies to Ireland. And the golf? After meeting Irish Premier Leo Varadkar, he will base himself at Doonbeg, in the west of the country, at his Trump International hotel and golf resort.
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