The carriage procession up the Mall and the official banquet at the Buckingham Palace are two staples of highest-ranking foreign dignitaries visits to the UK, an honor awarded to many of the previous American presidents. However, Mr. Trump will be exempt from this, during his “working visit” to London in July.
The long-awaited visit will finally take place, and President Trump will be welcomed to the Downing Street, where he will discuss matters with the UK Prime Minister Theresa May, but the meeting with the Queen and other members of the royal family is still not set.
President Trump was set to visit the UK and open a new billion-dollar embassy in January last year, but the overwhelming opposition from the British public caused him to cancel the trip. Even MPs joined the fray, declaring that they won’t let Trump address the Parliament. He claimed that he decided not to go in protest over President Obama selling of the old embassy “for peanuts” although the deal was concluded during the term of President Bush.
The visit was arranged during the Davos meeting, where to leaders met. President Trump will come to London after the NATO summit in Brussels, scheduled for mid-July.
Faced with looming Brexit, the UK is eager to maintain as close relationship with Washington as possible and conclude a favorable trade deal, and Mrs. May is willing to overlook many of the Trump’s antics in order to achieve that goal. Despite that, he managed to rattle her last year by retweeting far-right organization Britain First’s announcements. Mrs. May reacted quickly and sent a message that such behavior is unacceptable. Two leaders seemed to have mended their relationship since then, as both countries took part in strikes against Syria in early April. It remains to be seen whether they can remain on cordial terms, despite Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and America Frist strategy.
Source: theguardian.com
