On Tuesday, September 16, Donald Trump will land in the UK for his second state visit – just a little over six years since his first.
It’s widely described as unprecedented, and it certainly is for a US President. Just don’t tell Trump about the First World War-era French President Raymond Poincaré, who visited in 1913 and 1919.
In any case, this will be the first time a world leader has been granted the privilege of a second state visit in well over a century.
That raises a few questions – how similar will this trip be to the President’s first? How do you change it up to stop him getting bored?
There will, of course, be several differences. The obvious one is a different monarch – Trump was hosted by Queen Elizabeth six years ago, while King Charles will have the honour this time round.
Then there’s the choice of venue. The late Queen welcomed the President to Buckingham Palace, with his helicopter Marine One landing in the gardens in the early afternoon of June 3 2019.
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This week, the King will host him at Windsor Castle, as was the case with French President Emmanuel Macron when he had his own state visit in July.
When is Trump’s second state visit to the UK?
Buckingham Palace has not confirmed much about the state visit, beyond the fact that it will take place at Windsor Castle from September 17 to 19.
What will the schedule look like?
September 16
The president and first lady will both arrive in the evening and be greeted on behalf of the King by the US ambassador and Lord-in-Waiting Viscount Hood.
Trump is not expected to be in the public eye for the evening, which he will spend in private on the Windsor estate.
September 17
The following morning, the president and first lady will be formally welcomed by the King and Queen at Windsor Castle.
They will also meet the Prince and Princess of Wales before watching a military procession, including servicemen from the Royal Air Force, Royal Marines and the Army.
The president and the King will inspect the Guard of Honour, before Trump joins the royal family in the state dining room.
Later in the day, Trump is set to visit the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II at St George’s Chapel, where he will lay a wreath and hear a performance from the chapel choir.
A flypast will also take place, featuring F-35 jets from the UK and US forces, as well as the RAF aerobatic team or the Red Arrows.
Gun salutes will also be fired from the east lawn on the estate and from the Tower of London.
Both Trump and the King will give speeches at the traditional state banquet at Windsor Castle on Wednesday evening.
September 18
On Thursday, Trump will travel to the PM’s country home, Chequers, where he’ll be met by more military pomp and ceremony in the form of bagpipers and a guard of honour from RAF Hilton.
The president will be treated to a viewing of Sir Winston Churchill’s before a one-to-one meeting with Sir Keir.
He will attend a dinner reception hosted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.
While her husband is meeting political leaders, Melania will stay at Windsor where she will receive tours of the Royal Library and Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House.
She will then meet members of the Scouts’ Squirrels programme and Chief Scout Dwayne Fields at Frogmore Cottage along with the Princess of Wales, who is president of the Scout association.
Both Melania and Kate will learn about nature as they join the group who are working towards their Go Wild badge.
What security measures are in place?
Welcoming the world’s most powerful head of state and his wife involves a ‘complex’ security operation.
The security operation around the President is expected to cost at least £10 million and involve drones policing the air above Windsor.
A plethora of measures will swing into action around Windsor, from airspace restrictions to 24-hour policing for the duration of Trump’s visit.
Armed police will have access to vans kitted out with specialist equipment, including rubber bullets, Glock 17 sidearms, Lewis Machine & Tool rifles, and shotguns.
Police sergeant and operational firearms commander Daniel Hatfield said preparations had been made for all possible attacks, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear.
A seven-foot-high wall has also been temporarily erected around the Windsor estate.
Several rehearsals have taken place, and marine patrols have been conducted of local waterways and riverbanks.
‘We will be working alongside our partners, the Environment Agency, who will also be deploying onto the river, in order to maintain the safety of everyone’, explained Sergeant Lyn Smith of the Thames Valley Police.
She added: ‘As well as the patrol and search activity, we will be engaging with those using the river and speaking to local businesses who operate cruises or other leisure activities on the water.’
Who else will attend?
According to Sky News, a host of top names in the tech world could join the posh dinner – including OpenAI boss Sam Altman, Jensen Huang who heads up chipmaker Nvidia, and possibly Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
An invitation was also extended to JP Morgan chief Jamie Diamond, however, he is unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts.
What about the Trump Baby Blimp?
One of the most memorable images from the first state visit was the inflated caricature of Donald Trump in a nappy floating above Parliament Square.
London Mayor – and outspoken Trump critic – Sadiq Khan had given demonstrators permission to fly the so-called blimp the previous year.
A team of people in red jumpsuits and hats reading ‘Trump Babysitters’ started to blow up the 18-foot balloon around 8.30am on June 4, and it later formed the centrepiece of a large-scale protest march.
It all ended violently, though, when a Tommy Robinson supporter filmed herself slashing the blimp with a pair of scissors.
Two years later, the inflatable became part of the Museum of London’s protest collection, alongside artefacts linked to the suffragettes and climate campaigners.
The activists behind the inflatable confirmed to Metro in July that they were planning to bring it back to the skies above the capital for the latest visit – but the details are unconfirmed.
What happened on Trump’s first state visit?
There were a few ruffled feathers when Keir Starmer produced an invitation for a second state visit on his visit to the White House in February.
But the backlash barely registered compared to the outrage that followed the announcement of the first state visit.
A petition calling for the offer to be revoked attracted more than 1.8 million signatures. It’s still one of the largest petitions in British history.
Of course, it still went ahead.
The President and First Lady landed at Buckingham Palace on a mild summer’s day, and were greeted at their helicopter by Charles and Camilla, then the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall.
Queen Elizabeth met them at the entrance to the Palace a couple of minutes later, ahead of a performance by the Grenadier Guards.
That was the beginning of a pretty packed first day: a private lunch was followed by a look at items from the Royal Collection highlighting the relationship between the US and UK.
Trump was then joined by Prince Andrew on a visit to Westminster Abbey, where he placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
That evening, the white-tie state banquet took place at Buckingham Palace.
The following day, June 4, was more political. Trump joined then-Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street, and the pair held a press conference – where the President memorably said the NHS would be ‘on the table’ as part of a future US-UK trade deal.
On June 5, he travelled with the Queen and Prince of Wales to Portsmouth for an event marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, then left to visit Ireland.
This article was first published on July 14.
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