September dates for Donald Trump's UK state visit confirmed
Donald Trump
will travel to Britain for an unprecedented second full state visit from September 17th to 19th, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
Mr Trump and his wife Melania will be hosted by
King Charles
at a full state banquet at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, about 25 miles (40km) west of London; Buckingham Palace, which usually hosts British state banquets, is undergoing renovation works.
It appears that, unlike French president Emmanuel Macron, who had a full state visit to Britain last week, the US president may not be afforded the opportunity to give an address to the joint houses of parliament in Westminster during his three-day visit.
Mr Trump's visit begins the day after the UK parliament breaks for recess for the political party conference season. This may be designed to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation for Britain's prime minister,
Keir Starmer
, who had feared a boycott of such as address by Mr Trump by some of his Labour MPs.
Last week, 15 government MPs, including left-leaning rebels Diane Abbott and Nadia Whittome, were among 20 to sign a motion calling on House of Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle to deny Mr Trump an address to parliament in Westminster.
Former US president Barack Obama addressed both houses during his state visit in 2011. If he was keen to emulate his Democrat predecessor, Mr Trump could in theory still request to give an address. That would potentially force Mr Starmer into recalling parliament or delaying recess.
But it appears unlikely such a request would be made following back-room diplomatic machinations between the UK and US.
Mr Trump previously made a state visit to Britain in 2019, when he infamously breached royal protocol by walking in front of the late queen Elizabeth on a royal lawn.
No elected politician before Mr Trump has ever been asked back for a second state visit.
Mr Starmer, however, theatrically produced an invite from the king from his inside pocket in the Oval Room, during the UK prime minister's trip to see the US president at the White House in Washington in February. Mr Starmer has courted Mr Trump assiduously since last year, hoping to maintain Britain's much-valued 'special relationship' with the US.
The US president is also expected to come to Britain next month on a more informal visit. He will travel to Scotland to visit his two privately owned golf courses there: Turnberry in Ayrshire and the Trump International Scotland in Aberdeenshire that officially opens in August.
Mr Trump is not expected to meet King Charles during his golfing visit next month. However, The Irish Times understands that he may stay at Balmoral Castle, which is barely an hour's drive from his Aberdeenshire course.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
21 minutes ago
- Irish Times
A timeline of key tariff-related events
February 1st: Steep new United States tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China announced. February 3rd: Mexico, Canada tariffs placed on hold for 30 days. February 4th: Tariffs on China take effect, Beijing reveals retaliatory package. February 10th: US sets 25 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel imports – expected to take effect March 12th. READ MORE March 4th: Delayed 25 per cent US tariffs on Mexico and Canada take effect, US announces additional 10 per cent levy on Chinese imports. Canada announces retaliatory package: 25 per cent tariffs on $155 billion (€133 billion) worth of imported goods, including an immediate list of goods worth $30 billion. March 6th: New executive orders backtrack on sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on Mexico and Canada. March 11th: The US announces an additional 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports from Canada, which retaliates with new tariffs on almost $21 billion of US goods. March 24th: The US announces tariffs against countries that buy Venezuelan oil. March 26th: US president Donald Trump announces the US will impose tariffs of 25 per cent on foreign-made car imports. Other nations plan reprisals. April 2nd: Trump announces the US will impose tariffs ranging from 10 to 50 per cent on 185 countries. A universal 10 per cent tariff on all countries will start on April 5th, while other tariffs will begin on April 9th. Trump also announced that the 25 per cent tariff on foreign-made car imports will begin at midnight on April 3rd. April 4th: China announces 34 per cent retaliatory tariffs. The Juggle: Issues facing women with young children when balancing childcare and career Listen | 44:30 April 8th: White House confirms plans to proceed with another 50 per cent tariff on Chinese goods with effect from Wednesday, April 9th. April 9th: China announces additional retaliatory tariff of 50 per cent on US imports. Trump announces an increase of the US tariff rate on China to as high as 145 per cent and a 90-day pause on other countries, during which their tariff rates will be reduced to the baseline 10 per cent. April 11th: China increases retaliatory tariffs on US imports to 125 per cent. The Trump administration announces that it will exempt smartphones and other consumer electronics from its steep reciprocal tariffs – but the president later signals that this reprieve would only be temporary. April 29th: Trump executive order offers car manufacturers some relief from tariffs. May 8th: First deal of trade war sees cuts to punitive tariffs on British car and steel exports but keeps 10 per cent American levies on other exports. May 12th: China and the US agree to lower tariffs for the next 90 days. May 25th: Trump agrees to delay a threatened 50 per cent tariffs on the European Union and extend trade negotiations until July 9th, after a conversation with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen. May 28th: US trade court says Trump's global tariffs are illegal. May 30th: Trump says he will double steel and aluminium tariffs to 50 per cent with the new levies set to take effect from June 4th. July 2nd: Trump announces a trade deal with Vietnam, with US imports from the Asian country subject to a 20 per cent levy. July 7th: White House extends deadline for 'reciprocal' tariffs from July 9th to August 1st. July 10th: Trump sets a tariff on copper of 50 per cent, effective August 1st, and threatens a 200 per cent levy on pharmaceuticals. July 12th: Trump announces a 30 per cent tariff on Mexico and the EU, effective August 1st.
Irish Times
21 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Rachel Reeves to put on a brave face in Mansion House address
A politician crying in parliament may be generally viewed unwise, but there was a spin-off benefit for British chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves from her recent emotional interlude in the House of Commons. British government bond yields spiked the moment Reeves's tears were flashed across television screens, a signal that markets feared her potential removal. It could, therefore, be interpreted as a vote of confidence – of sorts – in the chancellor by the financial industry, even if it was rooted more in fear of what might follow her. After a torrid few weeks, Reeves will take whatever solace she can find. She will look to regain momentum on Tuesday evening, when she gives a big speech to City of London financiers in the Mansion House, home of the lord mayor of the financial district. British chancellors generally use their annual Mansion House speeches to lay out their approach to financial industry regulation, as well as to flag big fiscal policy adjustments that might of interest to institutional investors and their chief economists. READ MORE In her inaugural address last November, Reeves suggested post-crash financial regulation of bankers and insurers had 'gone too far' and was stifling growth. She is expected to build on that theme on Tuesday with a promise to slash red tape. The Juggle: the issues facing women with young children when balancing childcare and their careers Listen | 44:30 Reeves is expected to announce a loosening of the 'senior manager's regime' that places greater personal responsibility on the shoulders of financial executives for the ramifications of decisions they make on the job. She is also expected to flag an easing of the regulatory regime for the pre-vetting and approval of senior appointments. For the investment professionals in the room, there may be crowd-pleasing announcements to boost auto-enrolment in pensions, as well as a campaign to encourage retail investors to buy shares instead of saving cash. But many will also want answers from Reeves about where she intends to find £6.5 billion (€7.5 billion) of welfare savings she has had to give up, after her plans to cut the winter fuel allowance for pensioners and reduce access to disability payments were killed off by Labour rebels. Her problem could be that she doesn't yet know the answer herself.
Irish Times
38 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Are markets walking blindly into trouble?
Amid the deliberate drama of US president Donald Trump 's brinkmanship on tariffs , the relative calm of the markets stands out by contrast. Back in April when Trump made his initial Liberation Day pronouncements, the markets wobbled significantly. This time around, while they did come back marginally for record highs, the move has been modest. So what gives? Is the market betting that this is simply another Taco [Trump Always Chickens Out] trade – tough-talking by the president for the benefit of his Maga [Make America Great Again] constituency? Both EU and US officials have made it known in recent days that a deal is very close, so much so that the EU, at least, was taken aback by Trump's weekend bombshell. It would not be alien to the president's playbook to intervene at such a point and then take credit later when a deal follows as expected. READ MORE Or are investors buying into the Maga belief that companies exporting to the United States can and will swallow the tariff impact by cutting their prices so there is no impact on end consumers? As Davy head of equities Aidan Donnelly puts it: 'Either Wall Street doesn't believe that these measures will actually go through or they just don't care.' Trump supporters point to the lack of any inflationary impact over the past three months. But that ignores first that most companies have stockpiled precisely to try to beat tariffs, and second that those months have, for the most part, involved threats rather than concrete action on tariffs. About 80 per cent of clothing and footwear sold in the US last year was imported, according to Euromonitor. And 61 per cent of all imports came from four markets – the European Union, China, Mexico and Canada. The Juggle: Issues facing women with young children when balancing childcare and careers Listen | 44:30 The notion that consumers and the US economy can escape any impact from tariffs is fanciful, as is the idea that margins are so fat that companies can simply cut prices to fully offset a 30 per cent tax. Stock markets, Donnelly argues, may be underpricing the risks. The sharp rise in bond yields back in April forced a Trump rethink, he says, strengthening confidence in a 'Trump Put' – a level for the market at which the president would back down on unpopular policies. But, Donnelly warns, Trump's recent policy successes on several fronts mean he may feel able to absorb some unpopularity to push through a tariff policy that appears to be a cornerstone of the administration's economic plan. That could yet mean a significant downside for markets and investors.
