Donald Trump accepted an invite from King Charles on Thursday to go to Britain, making the U.S. president the primary elected political chief in fashionable occasions to be hosted for 2 state visits by a British monarch.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer handed Trump a letter from Charles in entrance of reporters on the White Home forward of formal conferences anticipated to debate Ukraine and world safety in addition to bilateral points.
Trump instantly opened and skim the letter, jokingly checking that it bore the King’s signature, which he then described as “lovely” and held up for the cameras to see.
“That is actually particular. This has by no means occurred earlier than. That is unprecedented,” Starmer informed Trump, earlier than gently urgent the president for a solution to the invitation.
“The reply is sure,” Trump responded. He informed Starmer he would attend with first girl Melania Trump. “We stay up for being there and honoring the king … Your nation is a incredible nation, and it will be our honor to be there.”
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No date for the go to was introduced.
Nonetheless photographs of Trump holding up the letter confirmed Charles had ended it with the phrases: “In doing so, working collectively, I do know we are going to additional improve the particular relationship between our two international locations, of which we’re each so proud.”
Second go to
The late Queen Elizabeth welcomed Trump for a three-day state go to in June 2019 throughout his first time period in workplace, throughout which he attended an opulent state banquet and a personal lunch with the sovereign, in addition to having tea with Charles, who was then inheritor.
That go to already put Trump in a choose group of U.S. presidents, as solely Barack Obama and George W. Bush had been afforded official state visits to Britain throughout Elizabeth’s report 70 years on the throne.
It could additionally turn into the final of the greater than 110 she hosted throughout her reign earlier than her dying in September 2022.
The go to was not the one event when Trump met Elizabeth. He was additionally invited to tea at Windsor Citadel throughout a visit to Britain in 2018, when he was broadly seen to have damaged royal protocol by failing to bow to the queen after which strolling in entrance of her as they inspected a navy guard.
Each his visits to Britain additionally attracted massive protests, together with his 2018 journey costing police greater than 14 million kilos as 10,000 officers had been deployed from throughout Britain.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Elizabeth Piper in Washington, Michael Holden and Sachin Ravikumar in London; Writing by Sam Tabahriti and William James; Enhancing by Daniel Wallis)
