President Trump will pay a state visit to the U.K. in early June, according to Buckingham Palace, which says Trump has accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to visit America's closest ally.
The visit will take place "from Monday 3rd June to Wednesday 5th June," the palace announced Tuesday.
The White House says the state visit "will reaffirm the steadfast and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom."
In addition to visiting the queen, Trump will also hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May. And the president and first lady are also scheduled to attend a ceremony to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, making a stop in Portsmouth — a main launch site for the World War II offensive that led to the liberation of Europe.
After Trump leaves the U.K., he will also visit France, where he will observe the D-Day anniversary on June 6 in Normandy, alongside President Emmanuel Macron.
The state visit will come nearly a year after Trump's first trip to the U.K. as president, when he and the first lady met the queen for tea at Windsor Castle and visited May at Chequers — the prime minister's country house.
In contrast to that working trip, the state visit will be much more formal. It follows state visits by President George W. Bush in November of 2003 and President Barack Obama in May of 2011.
During Trump's visit last July, protesters turned out by the thousands to voice their displeasure with Trump, citing his policies on immigration, his statements about the EU and U.K. and his criticisms of several British politicians, including the prime minister and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Despite plans to meet with May during that earlier trip, Trump gave a scathing critique of the prime minister in an interview with The Sun tabloid, blaming May for confusion and lingering doubts about Brexit and saying she "wrecked" the exit deal by ignoring his advice.
Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
