Trump Will Make His First State Visit to the U.K. at Queen Elizabeth's Invitation After Previous Trip Drew Protests
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will make their first state visit to the U.K. in June, the White House and Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday morning.
It will mark President Trump’s first state visit to the U.K., though he made a working visit last summer.
He and Mrs. Trump will travel to Britain from June 3 to 5 where they will be greeted with the full pomp of an official state visit.
“This state visit will reaffirm the steadfast and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom,” the White House said in a statement.
In a tweet, the palace confirmed “the President of The United States of America, President Donald J. Trump, accompanied by Mrs Melania Trump, has accepted an invitation from Her Majesty The Queen to pay a State Visit to the UK.”
According to the White House, Trump will also meet with Prime Minister Theresa May and he and the first lady will attend a commemorative event for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Following their U.K. trip, the first couple will travel to France on June 6 to mark the D-Day anniversary there in Normandy.
Trump was first invited for a state visit — an offer that must be extended by the Queen — in 2017 right after being sworn into office. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama previously visited in 2011, and before them President George W. Bush and First Lady Bush visited in 2003. (The Queen has made four state visits to the U.S., most recently in 2007.)
But Trump’s official state trip was repeatedly delayed, with speculation that it was due to worries over the protests he might face. Among other controversies in his relationship with Britain, Trump sparked intense backlash in June 2017 after he attacked London’s mayor in the wake of a terror attack there.
In July he met with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle amid the expected protests about his working trip. A “Stop Trump March” in nearby London drew tens of thousands of people.
In an interview ahead of his meeting with the Queen last year, the president said, “She is a tremendous woman. I really look forward to meeting her. I think she represents her country so well.”
“If you think of it, for so many years she has represented her country, she has really never made a mistake,” Trump said then. “You don’t see, like, anything embarrassing. She is just an incredible woman.”
