LONDON: US President Donald Trump landed in London late Tuesday for an unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
BBC reported that before the trip Trump sent positive signals, describing the visit as an honour and saying: “My relationship is very good with the UK.”
“They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit… I’m into helping them,” said Trump, with a multi-billion US technology investment deal being announced as the president’s visit got under way.
Prince William and Catherine will be part of a ceremonial welcome, there will be a gun salute, military inspection and President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will have a carriage procession within the Windsor estate.
Such spectacles will be aimed at pleasing a president who on Tuesday evening at Winfield House once again revealed his enthusiasm for royalty, saying about the King: “He’s been a friend of mine for a long time, and everybody respects him, and they love him.” said BBC.
Trump said the main purpose of the visit was to see “my friend” King Charles: “He represents the country so well, such an elegant gentleman.”
Trump and first lady Melania Trump were greeted by US diplomats and the Viscount Hood, Lord-in-Waiting, on behalf of King Charles III after disembarking from Air Force One at London Stansted Airport.
Later, the two visited Winfield House in London, the official residence of the US Ambassador to the UK since 1955.
The visit came after an invitation extended by King Charles in February during Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington, DC.
There will be 1,300 service men and women, from the Army, Royal Navy and RAF taking part in the welcome, creating the largest ever guard of honour for a state visit to the UK.
A joint US and UK flypast by F-35 jets and the Red Arrows will fly over Windsor, watched by Sir Keir Starmer alongside the president, in a display showing the closeness of the military relationship.
The centrepiece of the state visit will be the spectacular banquet in St George’s Hall, where King Charles and President Trump will make speeches, with guests enjoying a menu that’s likely to be a culinary representation of the special relationship, with UK and US food.
Along with the royal pageantry and photo-opportunities, there will be efforts to influence the US president over trade and international co-operation.
State visits are a form of soft power diplomacy, using the royal charm offensive to build relations with important international partners – with none more important than the US.
As the visit got underway, a major technology deal was announced with US tech firms investing £31bn in the UK, including £22bn from Microsoft.
This will see co-operation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear power, in a tech deal which Sir Keir Starmer hopes will begin “creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets”.
Ahead of the visit, the owner of Google, Alphabet, announced a £5bn ($6.8bn) investment in the UK’s artificial intelligence research.
And an agreement is to be signed between the US and UK on accelerating the development of nuclear power.
But ambitions to remove the current 25% tariff on UK steel exports to the US seem to have been put on hold – although this remains lower than the 50% tariff facing many other countries.
