Starmer handed Trump a letter from Charles during a press conference with reporters at the White House. Trump immediately accepted the invitation
Donald Trump accepted an invitation from King Charles on Thursday to visit Britain, making the US President the first elected political leader in modern times to be hosted for two state visits by a British monarch.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer handed Trump a letter from Charles during a press conference with reporters at the White House. Trump immediately accepted the invitation.
“This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented,” Starmer told Trump as he handed him the letter.
“The answer is yes,” Trump responded, telling Starmer that he would attend with first lady Melania Trump. “We look forward to being there and honoring the king, honoring the country.”
No date for the visit was announced.
The late Queen Elizabeth welcomed Trump for a three-day state visit in June 2019 during his first term in office, during which he had attended an opulent state banquet and a private lunch with the sovereign, as well as having tea with Charles, who was then heir.
That visit already put Trump in a select group of U.S. presidents, as only Barack Obama and George W. Bush were afforded official state visits to Britain during Elizabeth’s record 70 years on the throne.
It would also turn out to be the last of the more than 110 she hosted during her reign before her death in September 2022. The visit was not the only occasion when Trump met Elizabeth. He was also invited to tea at Windsor Castle during a trip to Britain in 2018, when he was widely seen to have broken royal protocol by failing to bow to the queen and then walking in front of her as they inspected a military guard.
Both his visits to Britain also attracted large protests, with his 2018 trip costing police more than 14 million pounds as 10,000 officers were deployed from all over Britain.
Second term US presidents are traditionally not offered state visits and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch, usually at Windsor Castle.
But King Charles’ letter proposed a meeting in Scotland, where Trump owns two golf courses, to discuss arrangements for a second state visit.
The letter suggested meeting at either Dumfries House in Ayrshire, which the King has owned since 2007, or Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, an official residence of the Royal Family. Trump appeared taken aback by the letter, but after taking a minute to read it he said he accepted the invite and that it would be an “honour” to visit the “fantastic” country.
John Swinney has previously said he would use Trump’s affinity for Scotland in a bid to avoid tariffs being applied on imports to the US, particularly on Scotch whisky. Swinney had publicly backed Harris, the Democratic nominee, in the run up to the 2024 presidential election.
But he had a phone conversation with the new president in December and said afterwards Trump had been keen to “express his enthusiasm for Scotland”. A Scottish government spokesperson: said: “The first minister will continue to ensure Scotland has a constructive relationship with the United States and will do all he can to strengthen the social, cultural, and economic ties between the two countries.”
The prime minister said it was a “privilege and an honour” to deliver the King’s letter to Trump, adding he “looked forward to welcoming” the president to the UK. Balmoral is only about 58 miles (93km) from the Trump International golf resort in Menie, where he is due to open a new course named after his mother this summer.
Mary Anne MacLeod was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides but emigrated to New York in 1930, where she met and married Trump’s father, Frederick. Trump opened his first golf resort in Aberdeenshire in 2012 amid a wave of controversy and opposition due to potential environmental damage.
He had bought the site at Menie in 2006 with promises of thousands of jobs and £1bn worth of investment in the area.
