LAST UPDATE | 3 Jun 2019
DONALD TRUMP ARRIVED in Britain this morning for his three-day UK state visit, ahead of his Irish visit later this week.
This is Trump’s first state visit to the UK, and will see him meet members of the Royal Family and Prime Minister Theresa May. He’s brought his adult children with him for the trip.
Just before 1pm, he met Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace:
Earlier this morning, Trump was met off the plane by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
Trump and his wife Melania then got into a helicopter, which was to bring them to the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, from where they would head to Buckingham Palace for a private lunch with Queen Elizabeth.
Though Trump looked delighted to meet the Queen, he was still annoyed about some other parts of his trip. The first was the criticism it got from from London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Trump tweeted this morning that Khan has done “a terrible job” and is a “stone cold loser”:
This is no doubt a reaction to Khan’s comments in an article for The Observer, where the mayor said that Trump gives comfort to the far right.
Trump is seen as a figurehead of this global far-right movement. Through his words and actions, he has given comfort to far-right political leaders, and it’s no coincidence that his former campaign manager, Steve Bannon, has been touring the world, spreading hateful views and bolstering the far right wherever he goes.
Khan said that it is “un-British” to be rolling out the red carpet for Trump, “whose divisive behaviour flies in the face of the ideals America was founded upon – equality, liberty and religious freedom”.
Khan said that May should “issue a powerful rejection” of Trump “and the far-right agenda he embodies”.
In reply to the tweets, a spokesperson for Khan said that: “This is much more serious than childish insults which should be beneath the President of the United States.”
Sky News reports that the spokesperson said Sadiq was “representing the progressive values of London and our country” in his views.
Trump also gave out about CNN, tweeting that it is “the primary source of news available from the US” but is “all negative & so much Fake News, very bad for U.S”.
Before heading off for the UK, Trump commented on Brexit, saying that he ‘wouldn’t pay’ the bill to the EU if he was Theresa May. He told the Sunday Times that “if you don’t get the deal you want, if you don’t get a fair deal, then you walk away”. He also suggested, again, that the UK should sue the EU.
In addition, Trump suggested that a new trade deal with the US could be organised.
The UK’s Labour Party is boycotting the visit by Trump, something which was criticised this morning by Jeremy Hunt. Hunt told Sky News this boycott was “inappropriate”.
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