President Donald Trump accepted a formal state visit invitation from British monarch King Charles III on Feb. 27.
“The answer is yes. For our wonderful First Lady, Melania, and myself, the answer is yes, and we look forward to being there and honoring the king and honoring, really, your country,” Trump said. “Your country is a fantastic country, and it'll be our honor to be there.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered the invitation to the president in the Oval Office of the White House at the beginning of bilateral discussions between the two nations.
“It’s a great honor because it’s never happened before,” Trump said. “It’s not for me; it’s respect for our country.”
Official state visits are rarely offered by the British royal family, and a sitting U.S. president has never been received twice.
“This is really special,” Starmer said. “This is unprecedented, and I think that just symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us.”
Trump first visited the UK in June 2019 at the request of Queen Elizabeth II. The visit included a formal ceremony at Buckingham Palace, a state-sponsored banquet, and a tour of Westminster Abbey, among other special events.
During her more than 70-year reign, which began in 1952 and ended in 2022 upon her death, the queen hosted seven U.S. presidents for official state visits: Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Trump.
“Visits by American Presidents always remind us of the close and longstanding friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States, and I am so glad that we have another opportunity to demonstrate the immense importance that both our countries attach to our relationship,” the queen said while welcoming Trump in 2019.
The president said the two countries share similar motivations and make exceptional geopolitical partners.
Bilateral meetings between the president and then-Prime Minister Theresa May included discussions about trade and foreign policies.
That drew a mixed response from UK residents. On the negative side, some protesters flew a blimp shaped like a baby Trump, and Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn boycotted the pageantry, calling Trump’s comments about British politics controversial.
The timing of the second visit and potential topics of discussion are yet to be determined, a White House official told The Epoch Times.
Starmer expressed optimism about Trump’s upcoming “historic” visit and said the royal family is pulling out all the stops.
“I think the last state visit was a tremendous success,” he said. “The king wants to make this even better than that.”
