President Donald Trump on Thursday said he expects to travel to the U.K. this September and stay with King Charles III as a run-up to next year’s planned state visit at Windsor Castle — an unprecedented second state visit for the American president on account of his serving a second, non-consecutive term.
The president confirmed his intention to cross the pond in September during a media availability in the Oval Office in which he was asked if he was planning to visit the British head of state, at which point he replied in the affirmative.
When pressed further on what he was looking forward to, he said he’d been invited by the King and called the U.K. a “great country” while remarking on the novelty of his second state visit as an American president, more than six years after he and First Lady Melania Trump visited the U.K. at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II.
“It's beautiful, and it's the first time it's ever happened to one person. And the reason is that we have two separate terms, and it's an honor to be, you know, a friend of Charles,” said Trump, who added that he has “great respect” for the royal family, including the King and the Prince of Wales and called the invitation “a great honor.”
Trump also confirmed that his September trip, during which he is expected to stay at Windsor Castle, is not the planned state visit to which he was invited in February.
His trip in September is understood to be arranged to lay groundwork for the second state visit, which is tentatively scheduled for next year.
“I don't know how it can be bigger than the last one ... which, as you know, is incredible, but they say it's going to be even more important. So it's a great honor to be so chosen,” Trump said.
The announcement of the timing of Trump’s planned sojourn to Windsor comes as Anglo-American relations have become increasingly fraught on account of the unprovoked trade war Trump launched against most of the world earlier this month.
The U.K. is set to find out in June whether it will be hit by tariffs of at least 10 percent or can avoid them by entering into a bilateral trade deal with the United States.
Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism over a trade deal being struck in an interview with the online publication UnHerd, but The Independent has reported that such an accord may only happen if Starmer agrees to repealing hate speech and online safety laws.
Yet even if the standoff over tariffs is resolved there is still tension between London and Washington over the White House's relatively pro-Russian approach to Ukraine compared with the previous Biden administration.
Starmer is attempting to put together a coalition of the willing to guarantee peace in Ukraine but is still yet to get Trump's agreement to a U.S. backstop. While on the surface the relationship between Downing Street and the White House has been very friendly there have been tensions behind the scenes, including on the prime minister’s appointment of Lord Mandelson – who had previously publicly criticized Trump – as the British ambassador to Washington.
Despite these tensions, the substance of Trump’s September trip is likely to focus most on arrangements for his state visit next year. It is hoped that the honor will help strengthen the special relationship and ease some of the other diplomatic problems.
