U.S. President Donald Trump is in Britain for a two-day visit that includes meeting with the royal family, a state dinner and talks with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth greeted Trump and his wife Melania after they arrived at Buckingham Palace by helicopter Monday. After a welcoming ceremony that included a 41-gun salute, the Trumps headed inside for lunch with the queen.
Before leaving Washington, Trump said his trip would be “very interesting” and that he thinks the United States and Britain have an opportunity to work out a “very big trade deal” in the near future.
His visit comes as Britain is in the midst of political turmoil. May announced last month she would be resigning after failing to complete Britain’s exit from the European Union.
That process will be inherited by her successor, with no clear path to a resolution among sharply divided parties.
Trump has publicly backed former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, and told reporters late Sunday he may meet with Johnson and pro-Brexit politician Nigel Farage while he is in London.
What is certainly not on his agenda is a meeting with London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who wrote in The Observer newspaper that welcoming Trump for a state visit is “un-British.”He cited Trump’s sharing of tweets from a “British far-right racist group,” the president’s rejection of scientific evidence of climate change, and Trump “trying to interfere shamelessly” in the race to replace May.
When asked if he would be open to meeting with Khan, Trump said Sunday, “No, I don’t think much of him.”
Trump’s trip will also include D-Day commemoration ceremonies in both Britain and France, and a stop in Ireland.