Second Trump state visit invite unprecedented for an American leader

The King has invited US President Donald Trump to make a second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture towards an American leader.

Mr Trump was already feted with a grand state visit to the UK, hosted by the late Queen in 2019.

Precedent for second-term US presidents who have already made a state visit is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.

But Mr Trump – the first ever convicted felon to become US president – has received an invitation to make a second state visit.

During a meeting between the US president and Sir Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday, the Prime Minister presented Mr Trump with a letter from the King, as he invited him for the visit.

As the two were sitting next to each other in the Oval Office, Sir Keir handed him the personal invitation from the King, later saying “this is truly historic and unprecedented”.

After reading it, Mr Trump then said: “That’s a great, great honour. And that says at Windsor – that’s really something.”

The president has earlier separately said he would be visiting the UK in the “near future” and the King’s letter suggested he could drop in at Balmoral or Dumfries House to discuss plans for the future state visit should he be visiting either of his Scottish golf courses.

The palace did not immediately comment on the invitation and the letter did not appear to go into details of when it could be.

The royal family’s soft power diplomacy is viewed as a way of engaging with the controversial billionaire-turned-politician, who is well known for his love of the monarchy.

A stay at Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands could be seen as appealing to Mr Trump’s heritage – his mother Mary Anne was born on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides and he has two golf resorts in the country.

Buckingham Palace’s ongoing £369 million refurbishment is focusing on its grandest state rooms, meaning it is unlikely to host any state visits for the next two years.

Balmoral – the turreted grey stone castle by the River Dee – is the King’s private Scottish home which has served as a summer sanctuary for generations of monarchs since it was bought for Queen Victoria by Prince Albert in 1852.

It was where the late Queen died in September 2022, marking the start of Charles’s reign as King.

The only other US president to stay at Balmoral was Dwight D Eisenhower in the summer of 1959, but it was an informal trip rather than a state visit.

Mr Eisenhower had an affectionate relationship with the late Queen, who made a last minute decision to drive down to Balmoral’s Lodge Gate to personally greet her guest when he inspected a guard of honour.

He was pictured with the Queen, Prince Philip the late Duke of Edinburgh, and a young Princess Anne and Prince of Wales on the castle lawn in the Scottish Highlands.

He was promised a family recipe for scones, which the Queen later shared in letter correspondence.

Questions remain as to what form the state visit will take, whether and where a state banquet would be held, who would accompany Mr Trump in his presidential party and could this even include his close ally, billionaire businessman Elon Musk who is acting as his senior adviser on federal spending.

In January, the King sent a personal message of congratulations on his inauguration, reflecting on the enduring special relationship between the UK and US.

Charles’s private written words were delivered to mark Mr Trump being sworn into office as US president for a second time after making the most dramatic comeback in US political history.

Foreign monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to visit the King on the advice and request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with the decision down to the Government.

His election victory marked an extraordinary return to the Oval Office in a political career which has been mired in controversy, criminal charges, accusations of racism and sexism, and the US Capitol riots in January 2021.

Mr Trump has made a run of contentious announcements at the start of his second term including calling Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky a “dictator” amid fragile relations between America and Europe.

But the US leader has boasted of his bond with the royal family, saying he had “automatic chemistry” with the late Queen, and hailing the King as a “really wonderful guy”.

When Mr Trump met the Prince of Wales in Paris last month after the ceremonial reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral, he remarked of William that he was “very handsome” and “some people look better in person”.

The now-47th American president has, however, been publicly critical of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who live in the US with their children, and warned Harry could face consequences if he lied about taking drugs on his US visa application.

He also lambasted the King’s younger son and Meghan, accusing them of treating the late Queen “very disrespectfully”.

But at the start of February, he appeared to rule out deporting Harry, saying “I’ll leave him alone” and adding: “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”

Meghan previously labelled Mr Trump “divisive” and a “misogynist”.

The last outward state visit to the US by a British monarch was 18 years ago when Queen Elizabeth II was hosted by George W Bush in 2007.

Palace officials indicated that after Charles and Camilla’s recent Australia tour, the King is to return to regular overseas trips this year as he adapts to living with cancer.

The King and Queen are reportedly set to be invited to make a state visit the US by Mr Trump in 2026 to coincide with the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence.

Mr Trump has often spoken of his bond with Elizabeth II, saying: “I really got to know her because I sat with her many times and we had automatic chemistry, you will understand that feeling.”

But author Craig Brown, in his biography, A Voyage Around The Queen, has since claimed that the monarch found Mr Trump “very rude”.

She is said to have “particularly disliked” the way he “couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting”.

In 2018, Mr Trump joined the Queen for tea at Windsor Castle.

As they inspected a guard of honour, the president walked along before standing still in front of the Queen, meaning she had to navigate her way around him so they could walk side by side.

He later said of the sovereign: “That is a beautiful woman.”

At the state visit a year later, he was treated to a full programme of pomp and pageantry, with a ceremonial welcome and a glittering ballroom banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Charles inspected a guard of honour with Mr Trump on the lawns of the royal residence, dined with him at the banquet and had tea with him, Mrs Trump and the then-Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House.

The returning-First Lady Melania Trump wrote in her memoir that she and her husband have an ongoing letter correspondence with the monarch.

Mr Trump has admitted, however, that the King is “a little bit more into environmental restriction than I am”.

While Charles, known for his eco-credentials, has warned climate change is “the wolf at the door”, Mr Trump has branded it a “Chinese hoax”.

But Mr Trump maintained he “totally listened” to the then-prince when he was pressed on climate change by Charles during his 2019 visit.

The King wrote privately to Mr Trump after he survived an assassination attempt, condemning the violence and wishing him a quick recovery.

Mr Trump used to bombard Diana, Princess of Wales, William and Harry’s late mother, at Kensington Palace with massive bouquets, according to broadcaster Selina Scott, who said he saw the princess as “the ultimate trophy wife”.

He also once said he would have slept with Diana without hesitation.

In a Howard Stern radio interview recorded just months after the princess died, Mr Trump also branded her “beautiful” but “crazy”.