Sadiq S BhatWashington, DC — US President Donald Trump has returned to Britain, marking his second state visit, making him the first US president ever to be invited twice.
The White House has presented it as an affirmation of the "special relationship."
The timing of Trump's state visit to the UK is delicate.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government is wobbly. His approval ratings have slid, his deputy was forced out over tax revelations, and his ambassador in Washington is tainted by scandal.
A state visit was meant to steady the stage, to draw power from pomp. Instead, it risks exposing the cracks.
Trump arrived with First Lady Melania the evening before, touching down at Stansted under heavy guard.
Demonstrators quickly gathered with placards across London. Overnight, projected images of Trump alongside disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein went up across the walls of Windsor Castle. Police arrested four.
There are marches planned through London, ending in Parliament Square. The state visit programme, however, has been devised to blunt the risk, keeping Trump inside castles and country estates.
King Charles III received Trump with the largest ceremonial guard of honour ever staged for a foreign leader, with more than a thousand troops drawn from the Army, Navy and RAF.
Bands of the Guards played the Star-Spangled Banner, then God Save the King. President Trump and King Charles walked the ranks, pausing for brief words.
Trump and the First Lady also visited St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle to lay a wreath at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II.
Choristers sang, their voices rising through the medieval stone as the British went out of their way to recall alliances forged in war, America’s Scottish roots, and Trump's own mother born on the Isle of Lewis.
Trump gave the King a replica of a President Eisenhower sword as a "reminder of the historical partnership that was critical to winning World War II".
Facing hard questions
Tomorrow, Trump is expected at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country house in Buckinghamshire.
Here, amid clipped British-style lawns and high hedgerows, the real work begins. Behind closed doors, Trump and Starmer will face the hard questions.
Trade comes first. Trump has arrived in Britain with business titans in tow: top tech executives, financiers, investors, and the pitch will be clear.
America will promise billions for Britain's struggling economy, but only on its terms. Tariffs on steel and aluminium are likely to stay. The digital services tax aimed at US firms may still rankle.
Both sides will talk of jobs, innovation, and future prosperity. A figure of £10 billion in US investment across technology, finance, and nuclear energy is expected to be announced.
Ukraine will follow.
Starmer will press Trump to confirm support for NATO and continued military aid to Kiev. Russian drones have just strayed into Polish skies, leaving Europe tense.
Trump, long sceptical of NATO spending, is expected to speak of burden sharing, of allies paying their dues.
Gaza, the sharpest fracture, is certain to be raised. UK's Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has already boycotted the state banquet in protest at the US stance.
Sir Ed told the British media that Starmer must "press" the president now.
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, a former shadow minister, also called on her party leader to make discussing the situation in Gaza with Trump a "top priority".
She told Sky News, "We say 'never again' when we look at Bosnia and Rwanda, but here we are again, and it's been livestreamed, and we've all seen it.
"We cannot be bystanders to a genocide."
'Between ceremony and substance'
Starmer is likely to test US willingness to broker a broader ceasefire in Gaza, while pressing for humanitarian relief.
Israel's attack on Doha on September 9 still reverberates and Britain could push for the safeguarding of diplomatic channels.
And looming over all this, the UN General Assembly.
Britain has signalled it will recognise Palestine as a state if Israel doesn't enter a deal on Gaza ceasefire. Starmer frames the step as essential for peace, not a reward but a right.
More than 140 countries already recognise Palestine, with France, Canada and Australia preparing to join. Netanyahu has rejected the idea outright.
Matthew Doyle, a former adviser to Starmer, describes the visit as a strategic blend of ceremony and diplomacy. "There is always a kind of unofficial quid pro quo on these trips between the ceremonial and the substance," Doyle told CNN.
At Chequers, the divide is anticipated to be stark. Recognition of Palestine at the UN still looms, threatening to widen the gulf with Washington.
For Starmer, the visit is designed to distract from domestic woes and reaffirm Britain’s role as a bridge across the Atlantic.
For Trump, the visit polishes his image at home, a leader welcomed with grandeur abroad.
Most analysts say technology announcements may open promising avenues for partnership between the US and UK, but chances of any big breakthroughs on Ukraine and Gaza remain limited.
Though the "special relationship" between the US and UK endures, strain threads through it.
