Trump to make unprecedented second state visit to UK in September
Trump, who is a big supporter of the royal family, particularly of the monarch, will be accompanied by his wife, Melania Trump during the three-day visit, the palace confirmed.
No US president has been invited for a second state visit. Trump previously enjoyed the pomp and pageantry of the state visit in 2019 during his first term when he was hosted by Charles' late mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The invitation for the second state visit from the king was hand-delivered by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in February during a meeting at the White House.
After reading it, Trump said it was a 'great, great honor' and appeared particularly pleased by the fact he will be staying at Windsor Castle, to the west of the capital. 'That's really something,' he said.
Precedent for second-term U.S. presidents who have already made a state visit is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
State visits are ceremonial meetings between heads of state that are used to honor friendly nations and sometimes smooth relations between rivals. While the king formally issues the invitation for a state visit, he does so on the advice of the elected government.
The visit is seen as part of Starmer's effort to keep Trump close and lessen the impact of some of his polices on the U.K. The relationship between the two appears amicable, and has helped the U.K. from facing the sort of hefty U.S. tariffs that other nations are seeing.
But like Trump's previous visit, it's unlikely he will be welcomed by all. Last time, a day of protests saw the flying of a giant blimp depicting Trump as an angry orange baby from outside Parliament.
Lawmakers from Starmer's Labour Party have also questioned whether the honor should be extended to Trump at a time that he is supporting Israel's war in Gaza and threatening the sovereignty of allies such as Canada and Greenland.
Charles could also face some challenges during the visit because he is head of state of both the United Kingdom and Canada, which Trump has suggested should become the 51st U.S. state.
During a speech to the Canadian parliament in May the king highlighted Canada's 'unique identity' and 'sovereignty,' while echoing the words of the country's national anthem when he said 'The True North is indeed strong and free.'
State visits to Britain are particularly prized by heads of state because they come with a full complement of royal pomp and circumstance, including military reviews, carriage rides and a glittering state banquet hosted by the monarch.
The events normally take place in and around Buckingham Palace in central London. But like last week's state visit from French President Emmanual Macron and his wife Brigitte, the Trumps will stay at Windsor Castle. Buckingham Palace is undergoing extensive remodeling.
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Hans India
21 minutes ago
- Hans India
MyVoice: Views of our readers 18th July 2025
Majoritarian mindset The NCERT's revision of the contents of the textbooks is in line with the BJP's and the Modi government's pursuit of a Hindutva agenda. The Hindu Right's world view and its fixation on other faiths run through the newly-added texts, as is easily seen from their phrasing. The Hindutva brigade's 'fascination' with the Mughal rulers has more to do with the use of history for political manipulation and mobilisation than its interest in understanding Indian history. It is 'fond' of this particular period of history as it provides the grist for its political discourse. The emphasis is laid on the Mughal period to buttress the argument that Hindus and Muslims have been constantly in conflict - nothing could be further from the truth – and make a case for Hindu revivalism. The reference to the British colonial rule as one which 'drained India of its wealth' seems to be a feeble attempt to claim objectivity. As for the mention of 'Christianisation', schools and hospitals built by the Christian missionaries to benefit the masses, mainly the long-oppressed lower castes, too could have been mentioned. The lament in the revised texts that the British destroyed India's traditional ways of life and its indigenous educational system and 'imposed foreign cultural values' is of immense sociological significance. History is not to be looked at through tinted glasses. Unfortunately, the NCERT gives students exposure only to a sanitized version of history. G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu Long overdue move The revised NCERT Class VIII textbook is a long-overdue correction of colonial narratives. By acknowledging the massive economic drain from India and exposing how 'modernisation' came at the cost of indigenous systems, it encourages critical thinking. Including local education models and the rise of the Marathas adds depth to the period often overshadowed by Mughal-British binaries. Importantly, the balanced approach showing both exploitation and exchange helps students grasp history with nuance. This bold, evidence-based shift deserves appreciation for reclaiming forgotten perspectives and fostering a more self-aware generation. Dr H K Vijayakumar, Raichur Is still Akbar 'The Great'? The new Social Science text book to be newly introduced by the NCERT for students in the 2025-26 academic year, portrays Mughal rulers ,especially Akbar among others, as intellectually endowed and also those who plundered the Indian population. So, how can his name tagging with the rarest title ' The Great' still holds apt and relevant? Seshagiri Row Karry, Hyderabad Unbiased journalism My heartfelt congratulations to The Hans India newspaper on completing 14 years of publication and entering into its 15th year. I am very happy to write that The Hans India is the only newspaper which has an Education page published every day. I eagerly look forward to your Sunday Edition for the Reader's Pulse. Yours is the only newspaper which has a page entirely for the readers and we feel free to share our thoughts with you .I am also glad that many of my thoughts and opinions have been published in The Hans India .Your reporting is unbiased and highly professional. Wishing Team Hans India a very bright future . Parimala G Tadas, Hyderabad Save Nimisha Priya The fate of Kerala nurse Nimisha Priya sentenced to death under Yemeni law for murdering her business partner and Yemeni national Abdoi Mehdi looks bleak with Mehdi's family rejecting the offer of blood money made by her family. The international community must, through good offices, mediate Nimisha's release, as the woman was forced into the diabolic crime to escape harassment by, and get back her passport from Mehdi. Yemen, an Islamic nation must do justice to the spirit of forgiveness espoused in the Holy Quran. Dr George Jacob, Kochi Too much Hindutva on display What is going on in Uttar Pradesh? Kanwar yatra is a major Hindu pilgrimage held usually in July, August. Giving more importance to the pilgrimage many educational institutions have been closed, roads have been opened to pilgrims only, and meat shops and eateries maintained by minorities have been asked to close against Supreme Court order. About 17,000 trees have been cut in Ghaziabad and Meerut to make way for new routes. U P government's too much support to Hindu religion is against secularism. Supreme Court must interfere to maintain democracy and secularism. P Victor Selvaraj, Tirunelveli
Indian Express
21 minutes ago
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What explains Donald Trump's Russia u-turn?
In an interview given to the BBC this week, United States President Donald Trump said he was 'disappointed in' Russia's leader Vladimir Putin, even though he was 'not [yet] done with him'. Asked if he still trusted President Putin, Trump said he trusted 'almost nobody'. Hours earlier, Trump had announced he planned to send weapons to Ukraine and threatened severe tariffs on Russia if there was no ceasefire deal in 50 days. During the interview, Trump endorsed the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the anti-Russia Western alliance that he has previously described as obsolete. Almost on cue, NATO chief Mark Rutte warned India, China, and Brazil that they could be 'hit very hard' with economic penalties if they continued to do business with Russia 'and buy their oil and gas'. Rutte 'encouraged' the leaders of these countries to 'tell [Putin] that he has to get serious about peace talks [to end the war in Ukraine], because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way'. A change of heart Trump's statements demonstrate a remarkable turnaround from his position this May, when he described Putin as a 'nice gentleman', and defended the Russian President on some occasions. At a disastrous White House meeting, he berated Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a 'dictator' who was 'gambling with World War III'. Trump also choked US military supplies to Ukraine, and stopped US intelligence-sharing with the Ukrainian government. In startling contrast, the US President has made increasingly angry comments about the Russian President this past week. His publicly expressed frustration with Putin marks a significant departure from the way he has so far viewed the war in Ukraine. Trump's seeming change of heart could also be a lifeline for NATO. America's European partners have been concerned about Trump's commitment to Article 5 of the treaty — the principle of collective defence, which means that an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all. Putin has got 50 days to negotiate, and NATO has got a lifeline in the process. Europe, apprehensive of the future of the transatlantic alliance, seems to have regained some unexpected goodwill with Trump. The President has also sanctioned US-made artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery systems for Ukraine, and there has been some talk of shipping Patriot missiles to Kyiv. Zelenskyy has said he has discussed 'weapons supplies and strengthening air defence' with Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg. Trump has also reportedly approved key Ukrainian requests for military aid 'based on a detailed list that Zelenskyy handed him last month when they met [during the NATO summit] in The Hague'. Impatience, uncertainty The turn in Trump's attitude has been seen as resulting from Putin's increasing demands — not only does Russia want to keep the Ukrainian territories that it currently occupies and a ban on Ukraine's membership of NATO, but also the removal of Zelenskyy. Trump, who is impatient to show the world that he has stopped the war in Ukraine and aspires for the Nobel Peace Prize, possibly feels slighted that he hasn't got anything from Putin yet. What Trump certainly does not want is to be seen to be 'weak' — and to be mocked for allowing himself to be played by the Russian President. That said, it is simply too early to say that Trump has definitively changed his view of Putin. America's leader is famously unpredictable — his disappointment with his Russian counterpart could well be momentary and temporary, and he is entirely capable of reverting to praising Putin and berating Zelenskyy. Dealing with Trump What is the message for India in all of this? From the perspective of New Delhi, as it negotiates with Trump and his team — be it on trade or on Pakistan — the instructive learning is to stay the course. There are two things that matter. FIRST, as NATO and Europe have shown, it is important to build one's own capacities. As Trump appeared ready to abandon their relationship, Europe increased its military spending, rallied around Zelenskyy, and doubled down on its support to Ukraine. It is important for India to ensure that its national political and economic interests remain paramount. On the US demand for concessions on tariff and non-tariff barriers in the negotiations for a trade deal, New Delhi must stay focused on what is good for its own interests. If some tariff walls and barriers need a relook, India must consider that not for America's or any other country's benefit, but as part of its own reforms. SECOND, the US President needs to be engaged diplomatically and officially, but also through unofficial and informal channels. This is something that Pakistan has been seeking to do by engaging with Trump's inner circle of family and advisors. Some European leaders too have done the same by playing golf with the President, or by praising and feting him. New Delhi will have an opportunity to engage with the President if he travels to India for the Quad leaders' summit later this year. While that will be the official track, the Indian establishment is well-placed to engage with him through its networks in the Indian diaspora. The Trump White House has its own informal layers of engagement through family and trusted advisors, and South Block may have to make use of those channels of communication to get through to the President. In this context, New Delhi can perhaps learn a thing or two from Zelenskyy. Shubhajit Roy, Diplomatic Editor at The Indian Express, has been a journalist for more than 25 years now. Roy joined The Indian Express in October 2003 and has been reporting on foreign affairs for more than 17 years now. Based in Delhi, he has also led the National government and political bureau at The Indian Express in Delhi — a team of reporters who cover the national government and politics for the newspaper. He has got the Ramnath Goenka Journalism award for Excellence in Journalism '2016. He got this award for his coverage of the Holey Bakery attack in Dhaka and its aftermath. He also got the IIMCAA Award for the Journalist of the Year, 2022, (Jury's special mention) for his coverage of the fall of Kabul in August 2021 — he was one of the few Indian journalists in Kabul and the only mainstream newspaper to have covered the Taliban's capture of power in mid-August, 2021. ... Read More
Mint
21 minutes ago
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Jeffrey Epstein's friends sent him bawdy letters for a 50th birthday album. One was from Donald Trump.
It was Jeffrey Epstein's 50th birthday, and Ghislaine Maxwell was preparing a special gift to mark the occasion. She turned to Epstein's family and friends. One of them was Donald Trump. Maxwell collected letters from Trump and dozens of Epstein's other associates for a 2003 birthday album, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Pages from the leather-bound album—assembled before Epstein was first arrested in 2006—are among the documents examined by Justice Department officials who investigated Epstein and Maxwell years ago, according to people who have reviewed the pages. It's unclear if any of the pages are part of the Trump administration's recent review. The president's past relationship with Epstein is at a sensitive moment. The Justice Department documents, the so-called Epstein files, and who or what is in them are at the center of a storm consuming the Trump administration. On Wednesday, after angry comments about how the files are a hoax created by Democrats, President Trump lashed out at his own supporters for refusing to let the matter go. The letter bearing Trump's name, which was reviewed by the Journal, is bawdy—like others in the album. It contains several lines of typewritten text framed by the outline of a naked woman, which appears to be hand-drawn with a heavy marker. A pair of small arcs denotes the woman's breasts, and the future president's signature is a squiggly 'Donald" below her waist, mimicking pubic hair. The letter concludes: 'Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret." In an interview with the Journal on Tuesday evening, Trump denied writing the letter or drawing the picture. 'This is not me. This is a fake thing. It's a fake Wall Street Journal story," he said. 'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women," he said. 'It's not my language. It's not my words." He told the Journal he was preparing to file a lawsuit if it published an article. 'I'm gonna sue The Wall Street Journal just like I sued everyone else," he said. Allegations that Epstein had been sexually abusing girls became public in 2006 and he was arrested that year. Epstein died in 2019 in jail after he was arrested a second time and charged with sex trafficking conspiracy. Justice Department officials didn't respond to requests for comment or address questions about whether the Trump page and other pages of the birthday album were part of the agency's recent documents review. The FBI declined to comment. The existence of the album and the contents of the birthday letters haven't previously been reported. The album had poems, photos and greetings from businesspeople, academics, Epstein's former girlfriends and childhood pals, according to the documents reviewed by the Journal and people familiar with them. Among those who submitted letters were billionaire Leslie Wexner and attorney Alan Dershowitz. The album also contained a letter from a now-deceased Harvard economist, one of Epstein's report cards from Mark Twain junior high school in Brooklyn and a note from a former assistant that included an acrostic with Epstein's name: 'Jeffrey, oh Jeffrey!/ Everyone loves you!/ Fun in the sun!/ Fun just for fun!/ Remember…don't forget me soon!/ Epstein…you rock!/ You are the best!" Epstein was Wexner's money manager at the time. The longtime leader of Victoria's Secret wrote a short message that said: 'I wanted to get you what you want… so here it is…." After the text was a line drawing of what appeared to be a woman's breasts. Wexner declined to comment through a spokesman. Wexner's spokesman previously told the Journal that the retail mogul 'severed all ties with Epstein in 2007 and never spoke with him again." Dershowitz's letter included a mock-up of a 'Vanity Unfair" magazine cover with mock headlines such as 'Who was Jack the Ripper? Was it Jeffrey Epstein?" He joked that he had convinced the magazine to change the focus of an article from Epstein to Bill Clinton. Dershowitz, who represented Epstein after his first arrest, said, 'It's been a long time and I don't recall the content of what I may have written." The book was put together by a New York City bookbinder, Herbert Weitz, according to people who were involved in the process. Weitz, who died in 2020, listed Epstein as a client on his website in 2003. It isn't clear how the letter with Trump's signature was prepared. Inside the outline of the naked woman was a typewritten note styled as an imaginary conversation between Trump and Epstein, written in the third person. 'Voice Over: There must be more to life than having everything," the note began. Donald: Yes, there is, but I won't tell you what it is. Jeffrey: Nor will I, since I also know what it is. Donald: We have certain things in common, Jeffrey. Jeffrey: Yes, we do, come to think of it. Donald: Enigmas never age, have you noticed that? Jeffrey: As a matter of fact, it was clear to me the last time I saw you. Trump: A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret. President Trump at the White House on Wednesday. When he turned 50, Epstein was already wealthy from managing Wexner's fortune and was socializing with Trump, Clinton and other powerful people at his Manhattan townhouse, Palm Beach, Fla., home and private Caribbean island. A spokesman for Clinton referred to a 2019 statement that former President Clinton had cut off ties more than a decade before Epstein's second arrest and didn't know about Epstein's alleged crimes. Epstein and Trump spent time together in the 1990s and early 2000s and were photographed at social events, including with Maxwell and Melania Trump. A 1992 tape from the NBC archives shows Trump partying with Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate; Trump is seen pulling a woman toward him and patting her behind. Trump, along with others including Clinton, also appeared several times on flight logs for Epstein's private jet. A 2002 New York magazine profile of Epstein quoted Trump. 'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy," Trump said. 'He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life." Both men said that they subsequently had a falling-out. Trump has said their friendship ended before Epstein pleaded guilty to procuring a minor for prostitution in 2008, served time in a Florida jail and registered as a sex offender. When Epstein was arrested again in 2019, Trump said he hadn't talked to Epstein for about 15 years. 'I knew him like everybody in Palm Beach knew him," Trump said in the Oval Office at that time. 'I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." Trump's spokeswoman told the Journal in 2023 that Trump had banned Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club at some point in the past, without elaborating. Maxwell, a British socialite, was convicted in 2021 of helping Epstein's sex-trafficking and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Maxwell didn't respond to a letter requesting an interview sent to her in prison. Arthur Aidala, an attorney representing Maxwell in her appeal, said, 'At this point, she is focused on her case before the Supreme Court of the United States." Epstein's associations with Trump and many powerful people have been well documented. There remain questions about what the FBI possesses about Epstein and his well-connected friends. In 2019, the FBI confiscated evidence from Epstein's properties in the U.S. Virgin Islands and New York. Earlier Tuesday, after the Journal sought comment from the president about the letter, Trump told reporters at the White House that he believed some Epstein files were 'made up" by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden and former FBI Director James Comey. He said that releasing any more Epstein files would be up to Attorney General Pam Bondi. 'Whatever she thinks is credible, she should release," Trump said. Allegations that bureaucrats covered up Epstein's connections with participants in his trafficking scheme were fanned by people now in top roles in the Trump administration, including FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino. In June 2024, Trump was asked in a Fox News interview whether he would release the Epstein case files. The Republican presidential candidate initially responded, 'Yeah, I would." But he also expressed some reservations. 'You don't want to affect people's lives if it's phony stuff in there, because it's a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would." Soon after she was confirmed as attorney general, Bondi said she was preparing to release new Epstein files. In late February, Bondi announced the release of 'Phase 1" of the documents. But the material contained few new revelations, drawing criticism from right-wing influencers. Bondi initially blamed the FBI's New York office for withholding information and promised to release the remaining documents after redacting the victim's names. Patel also said, 'There will be no coverups, no missing documents and no stone left unturned." They tasked hundreds of FBI employees to review the materials and prepare them for release. The issue took on new life in June when Elon Musk, amid a public feud with Trump, alleged that the FBI was withholding documents from the Epstein case because Trump was in the files. 'The truth will come out," Musk wrote on X on June 5. He later deleted the message and said he regretted some of his comments. On July 7, the Justice Department backtracked on Bondi's pledge to release more Epstein files. The Justice Department said that after an 'exhaustive review" it had found no 'incriminating client list" or additional documents that warrant public disclosure. Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demanded this week that Republican Chairman Jim Jordan hold hearings on the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files and, if necessary, subpoena Bondi, Patel and Bongino. At a cabinet meeting on July 8, Trump criticized a reporter for asking about Epstein. 'Are people still talking about this guy, this creep?" Trump said. 'That is unbelievable. Do you want to waste the time?" That same day, Musk wrote on X: 'How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?" Write to Khadeeja Safdar at and Joe Palazzolo at
