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Trump Flies in for a UK State Visit 09/16 06:09
LONDON (AP) -- U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in the United Kingdom on
Tuesday for a state visit during which the British government hopes a
multibillion-dollar technology deal will show the transatlantic bond remains
strong despite differences over Ukraine, the Middle East and the future of the
Western alliance.
State visits in Britain blend 21st-century diplomacy with royal pageantry.
Trump's two-day trip comes complete with horse-drawn carriages, military honor
guards and a glittering banquet inside a 1,000-year-old castle -- all tailored
to a president with a fondness for gilded splendor.
King Charles III will host Trump at Windsor Castle on Wednesday before talks
the next day with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British leader's
rural retreat.
Starmer's office said the visit will demonstrate that "the U.K.-U.S.
relationship is the strongest in the world, built on 250 years of history" --
after that awkward rupture in 1776 -- and bound by shared values of "belief in
the rule of law and open markets." There was no mention of Trump's
market-crimping fondness for sweeping tariffs.
The White House expects the two countries will strengthen their relationship
during the trip as well as celebrate the upcoming 250th anniversary of the
founding of the United States, according to a senior White House official who
was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. It
was not clear how the U.K. was planning to mark that chapter in their shared
history.
"The trip to the U.K. is going to be incredible," Trump told reporters
Sunday. He said Windsor Castle is "supposed to be amazing" and added: "It's
going to be very exciting."
Trump's second state visit
Trump is the first U.S. president to get a second state visit to the U.K.
The unprecedented nature of the invitation, along with the expectation of
lavish pomp and pageantry, holds dual appeal to Trump. The president has
glowingly praised the king's late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and spoken about
how his own Scotland-born mother loved the queen and the monarchy.
The president is also royally flattered by exceptional attention and has
embraced the grandeur of his office in his second term. He has adorned the
normally more austere Oval Office with gold accents, is constructing an
expansive ballroom at the White House and has sought to refurbish other
Washington buildings to his liking.
Foreign officials have shown they're attuned to his tastes. During a visit
to the Middle East this year, leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar didn't just
roll out a red carpet but dispatched fighter jets to escort Trump's plane.
Starmer has already shown he's adept at charming Trump. Visiting Washington
in February, he noted the president's Oval Office decorating choices and
decision to display a bust of Winston Churchill. During Trump's private trip to
Scotland in July, Starmer visited and praised Trump's golf courses.
Efforts to woo the president make some members of Starmer's Labour Party
uneasy, and Trump will not address Parliament during his visit, like French
President Emmanuel Macron did in July. Lawmakers will be on their annual autumn
recess, sparing the government an awkward decision.
The itinerary in Windsor and at Chequers, both well outside London, also
keeps Trump away from a planned mass protest against his visit.
"This visit is really important to Keir Starmer to show that he's a
statesman," said Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global
Affairs. "But it's such a double-edged sword, because he's going to be a
statesman alongside a U.S. president that is not popular in Europe."
Troubles for Starmer
Preparations for the visit have been ruffled by political turmoil in
Starmer's center-left government. Last week, Starmer sacked Britain's
ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over his past friendship with
convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson had good relations with the Trump administration and played a key
role in securing a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement in May. His firing has put Epstein
back in British headlines as Trump tries to swerve questions about his own
relationship with the disgraced financier.
Mandelson's exit came just a week after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner
quit over a tax error on a home purchase. A senior Starmer aide, Paul Ovenden
quit Monday over tasteless text messages he sent years ago. Fourteen months
after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer's position at the helm of
the Labour Party is fragile and his poll ratings are in the dumps.
But he has found a somewhat unexpected supporter in Trump, who has said
Starmer is a friend, despite being "slightly more liberal than I am."
Starmer's government has cultivated that warmth and tried to use it to get
favorable trade terms with the U.S., the U.K.'s largest single economic
partner, accounting for 18% of total British trade.
The May trade agreement reduces U.S. tariffs on Britain's key auto and
aerospace industries. But a final deal has not been reached over other sectors,
including pharmaceuticals, steel and aluminum.
Labour lawmaker Liam Byrne, who heads the House of Commons' Business and
Trade Committee, said it's vital "to turn paper promises into a binding bargain
that ends the tariff tempest that is battering British exporters and investors."
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are expected
to be among the business leaders in the U.S. delegation. Trump and Starmer are
set to sign a technology partnership -- which Mandelson was key to striking --
accompanied by major investments in nuclear power, life sciences and Artificial
Intelligence data centers.
The leaders are also expected to sign nuclear energy deals, expand
cooperation on defense technology and explore ways to bolster ties between
their financial hubs, according to the White House official.
Ukraine on the agenda
Starmer has also tried to use his influence to maintain U.S. support for
Ukraine, with limited results. Trump has expressed frustration with Russian
President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new
sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations.
Last week's Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong
condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops
for the bloc's eastern flank. Trump played down the incident's severity, musing
that it " could have been a mistake. "
Starmer also departs from Trump over Israel's war in Gaza, and has said the
U.K. will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations later
this month.
Vinjamuri said Starmer "has kept the United States speaking the right
language" on Ukraine, but has had little impact on Trump's actions.
"On China, on India, on Israel and Gaza and Hamas, and on Vladimir Putin --
on the really big important things -- the U.K. hasn't had a huge amount of
influence," she said.
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