Second state visit to King Charles: Another meeting with Donald Trump planned

Donald Trump (79) is the first to complete a second complete state visit to Great Britain this year. King Charles III. (76) has personally invited the American head of state, as the Buckingham Palace has now confirmed. The formal planning for the extraordinary second state visit has already started.

According to the report last week, the official invitation, which bears the traditional name “Manu Regia” and was signed by the king personally, received the White House in Washington. September is the most likely date for the historical visit, even if the exact data has not yet been tightened.

In their second term, US President traditionally only receive an invitation to tea or lunch at Windsor Castle – but not the full ceremonial state visit with all its honors. However, Trump is given this extraordinary honor.

“His majesty has known President Trump for many years and is looking forward to receiving him and first Lady later this year,” said a palace employee to the BBC. Vice Prime Minister Angela Rayner (45) also showed a positive: “We are really pleased that the US President comes to a second state visit.”

Originally, an informal meeting between Trump and King Charles had been planned for the summer. As is well known, both men have connections to Scotland – the king traditionally spends his summer break there, Trump, in turn, has a golf course in Aberdeenshire, which is to be opened this summer. But the schedule on both sides did not allow such a meeting.

As early as February, Prime Minister Keir Strandmer (62) presented a letter from the king to Trump during his visit to the White House. In it, Charles proposed a meeting to discuss details of the state visit – either in Dumfries House or at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Not everyone in the palace is said to have been enthusiastic about the idea of ​​a second visit to Trump right from the start. , the Buckingham Palace expressed concerns about Trump’s “threats to Canada”. A high-ranking palace employee is said to have announced government officials that the King does not want to celebrate Trump with a state visit, while the US President grabs “sovereignty over Canada”.

These concerns apparently meant that a later appointment was initially targeted in Trump’s second term. When asked whether Strandmer had overruled the king to prefer Trump’s visit, a government spokesman decidedly rejected this: “This is untrue.”

The American President’s first state visit took place in June 2019 and was still organized by the late Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022).