London - US President Donald Trump
will make a state visit to the United Kingdom in June,
Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday, a trip Britain hopes
will cement transatlantic relations but one that immediately
prompted criticism and promises of protests.
Trump will be only the third US president to have been
accorded the honour of a state visit by Queen Elizabeth during
her 67-year reign. But the trip, from June 3-5, is likely to be
controversial given many Britons deeply dislike the man and
reject his policies on issues such as immigration.
Almost 1.9 Britons signed a petition in 2017 saying he
should not be given a state visit - a pomp-laden affair
involving a carriage trip through London and a banquet at
Buckingham Palace. Protests involving tens of thousands of
demonstrators overshadowed his non-state trip to Britain last
July.
The opposition Labour Party strongly criticised Prime
Minister Theresa May for pressing ahead with the ceremonial
stay, which she offered Trump when she became the first foreign
leader to visit him after his inauguration in January 2017.
May, who is facing calls for her resignation from some
lawmakers in her own Conservative Party over her handling of the
country's exit from the European Union, which is still stalled,
will be hoping for strong backing for a post-Brexit U.S.-UK
trade deal.
"The UK and United States have a deep and enduring
partnership that is rooted in our common history and shared
interests," May said in a statement.
The state visit would be an opportunity to strengthen
already close ties in areas such as trade, investment, security
and defence, she said.
The White House said the trip would reaffirm "the steadfast
and special relationship" between the allies.
During his trip last year, Trump shocked Britain's political
establishment by giving a withering assessment of May's Brexit
strategy. He said she had failed to follow his advice such as
suing the EU but later said May was doing a fantastic job.
"This is a President who has systematically assaulted all
the shared values that unite our two countries," Emily
Thornberry, Labour's foreign affairs spokeswoman, said in a
statement after the visit was announced.
"Unless Theresa May is finally going to stand up to him and
object to that behaviour, she has no business wasting taxpayers’
money on all the pomp, ceremony and policing costs that will
come with this visit.”
Few details of the trip were given, but it will include a
meeting with May in Downing Street and also a ceremony in
Portsmouth on the south English coast to mark the 75th
anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France during
World War Two. Trump will be accompanied by his wife, Melania.
TEA AND PROTESTS
Last year, Trump was feted with a lavish dinner at Blenheim
Palace, the birthplace of the British World War Two leader
Winston Churchill, and he and Melania also had tea with the
queen at Windsor Castle.
The president then breached royal protocol by publicly
disclosing details of a conversation he had with the 93-year-old
monarch about the complexities of Brexit.
Trump's state visit has been a divisive issue for Britons
since May issued the invitation, with 1.86 million people
signing a petition calling for him to be prevented from making
such a trip, leading to a debate in parliament in 2017.
More than 100 protests were planned across the country
during his visit last year and police had to deploy 10,000
officers, an operation that cost nearly 18 million pounds.
The largest protest in London attracted some 250,000
people, according to organisers, bringing much of the capital to
a standstill.
They promised a "Together Against Trump" protest in June.
"He is a symbol of the new far right, a politics of
Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, of war and conflict, and walls
and fences that are growing around the world," said Shaista
Aziz, from the Stop Trump coalition.
The queen, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has met
every US leader since Harry S. Truman except for Lyndon
Johnson. Only two U.S. presidents - Barack Obama in 2011 and
George W. Bush in 2003 - have previously been invited for full
state visits.
After leaving Britain, Trump will travel to France to meet
French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said.