King and PM prepare for Donald Trump’s unprecedented second state visit

US President Donald Trump will touch down in the UK on Tuesday ready to embark on his controversial second state visit.

The American leader is being feted with a stay in Windsor Castle where he will be hosted by the King and treated to a ceremonial welcome on Wednesday and a lavish state banquet.

Security will be paramount, with Mr Trump confined to the private Windsor estate on the first full day, before heading to the Prime Minister’s country residence Chequers on Thursday.

There are no public-facing engagements for the president throughout, with thousands expected to take part in major protests against his two-day stay.

Demonstrators from the Stop Trump Coalition will take to Windsor high street on Tuesday evening, followed by a march through central London the next day ending with a mass rally in Parliament Square.

Separately, Socialist Students said hundreds of students have pledged to walk out of schools, colleges and universities across the country on Wednesday.

Channel 4 will air a night of programming focusing on Mr Trump’s untruths, including 100 falsehoods, distortions and inaccuracies either written or said by the president during his time in office.

The trip is Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture for a US president – with his last one six years ago in 2019 seeing thousands of people turn out on the streets in London in opposition and a 20 foot Trump baby blimp take to the skies.

Police plans to ensure Mr Trump, who will travel with his own security detail of Secret Service agents, is kept safe are under daily review amid the very high threat level and against the backdrop of the assassination of his ally Charlie Kirk.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will meanwhile play a key role in entertaining the president, who is known for his love of the royal family, and First Lady Melania Trump.

William and Kate will meet the American couple, who make an administrative arrival in the UK on Tuesday evening, in the grounds of the Windsor estate on Wednesday and escort them a short distance to see the King and Queen for an open air greeting nearby.

The proceedings are aimed at extending a personal, family-centred welcome to the Trumps ahead of the official ceremony in the castle quadrangle after a carriage ride through private Home Park.

The princess will also, in a rare move, carry out a joint engagement with Mrs Trump on Thursday in Frogmore Gardens where they will meet Chief Scout Dwayne Fields and members of the Scouts’ Squirrels programme as they learn about nature to achieve their Go Wild badge.

It has not yet been confirmed whether Kate, who announced at the start of the year that she was in remission from cancer, will attend the state banquet on Wednesday evening.

But it is likely she will be present at the opulent dinner during the diplomatically high-stakes visit, having done so for French President Emmanuel Macron in July.

The state visit is a major opportunity for Sir Keir Starmer’s Government to influence Mr Trump’s thinking on several domestic and international issues.

Chief among the UK’s concerns is eliminating the tariffs on British steel imports to the US, which remain in place despite many of the main points of a UK-US trade deal being hammered out.

Over the weekend, Liam Byrne, the Labour chairman of the Commons Business and Trade Committee, said the state visit is “no mere pageant” and warned the Government that “we can’t escape the truth that Britain now trades with its biggest partner on terms that are worse than the past”.

Peter Kyle, the newly appointed Business Secretary, has said that tariff relief for UK steel is being negotiated and that he will “make sure that we have an announcement as soon as possible”, but figures within Government have been hesitant to suggest such a deal could come during the state visit.

Ministers have elsewhere been keen to stress the importance of a new nuclear partnership with America, aimed at speeding up the development of power plants.

Some £1.25 billion of investment from US financial firms was also announced ahead of the visit.

“The state visit not only reflects centuries of bond between our two countries but cements the next 250 years as the closest of allies, creating a safer, richer future for people both sides of the Atlantic,” the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters.

Sir Keir may also use the state visit to convince Mr Trump that the US should heap further sanctions on Russia, as European powers scramble to help Ukraine.

The American leader has held off on imposing sanctions on Moscow, but has said he is ready to do so once other Nato countries stop buying Russian oil.

Efforts to woo Mr Trump may however prove more difficult than expected for Sir Keir with the absence of former ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson.

Britain’s top man in Washington was dismissed last week after the closeness of his relationship with the paedophile US financier Jeffrey Epstein came to light.

Emails published by Bloomberg included passages in which Lord Mandelson told Epstein to “fight for early release” shortly before he was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Mr Trump has also been implicated in the Epstein scandal, with a tranche of documents released by US legislators said to include a letter from the president to Epstein to celebrate his 50th birthday.

The White House has denied the message is authentic, but Mr Trump continues to face a domestic political battle over the scandal, all while Sir Keir faces continued questions about his judgment over the appointment of Lord Mandelson.

Meanwhile, additional flourishes have been added to the regular state visit programme in honour of Mr Trump.

He will be honoured with a flypast by the Red Arrows and UK and US F-35 military jets on the east lawn at Windsor Castle on Wednesday afternoon, after watching a special Beating Retreat military spectacle never before staged for an incoming state visit.

The president will also visit the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, to privately lay a wreath and pay his respects.