U.S. President Trump will skip a preliminary visit to the U.K. and make a full state visit later this year
U.S. President Donald Trump and then-Prince Charles inspect the Guard of Honor at Buckingham Palace, June 3, 2019, in London. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
LONDON — U.S. President Donald Trump plans to make a full state visit to Britain later this year, bypassing a suggestion put forward by King Charles III that the two men first meet informally over the summer when both are expected to be in Scotland.
Complexities in both the monarch's and the president's schedules put the kibosh on the idea, Britain's Press Association reported.
The hand-signed formal invitation for the state visit, known as the Manu Regia, was hand-delivered to the White House last week by representatives of the British Embassy in Washington.
The invitation formalizes Trump's unprecedented second state visit to Britain, which was first suggested in a letter from the king that Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered to the president in February during a meeting at the White House. A date for the state visit has not yet been announced.
The visit is seen as part of Starmer's effort to curry favour with Trump and lessen the impact of his America First policies on the United Kingdom. But the visit is controversial in Britain, where some lawmakers from Starmer's Labour Party have 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 will face his own 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 last month, 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.'
As a constitutional monarch, Charles acts on behalf of the elected government when he extends invitations for state visits. Still, such visits are coveted by many world leaders because it comes with all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the royal family.
Visiting heads of state are normally greeted by the monarch before reviewing a cadre of troops in scarlet tunics and bearskin hats. There is often a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and a glittering state banquet in addition to bilateral meetings with top government officials.
'He's a beautiful man'
Trump revelled in the ceremony during his first state visit in 2019, hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
'He's a beautiful man, a wonderful man, and we appreciate it,' Trump said of Charles when he accepted the invitation in February. 'I've gotten to know him very well, actually. First term and now second term.'
Despite those warm words, Trump didn't take Charles up on his offer of an informal meeting this summer at one of the royal estates in Scotland, where the king normally spends his August holidays. Trump is expected to visit his golf courses in Scotland at about the same time.
'Quite apart from presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second State Visit to the United Kingdom' including questions such as 'location and content,' Charles wrote in his preliminary invitation.
The Times of London reported that Starmer had gone against the wishes of the king by bringing Trump's state visit forward to September. The newspaper said the palace had been hoping for a more leisurely approach building towards the state visit, amid concern over Trump's designs on Canada.
A spokesman for Starmer said it wasn't true that the prime minister had overruled Buckingham Palace on the timing. Geraint Ellis said that when Starmer visited the White House in February, he had been 'delighted to extend' Charles' invitation for a second state visit.
'We look forward to welcoming President Trump to the U.K.,' he said, adding that details of the visit were a matter for the palace.
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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
Danica Kirka, The Associated Press
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