Inside Donald Trump's first state visit to UK with Queen Elizabeth II
Trump visited back in June 2019Donald Trump has arrived in the UK for his second state visit this week, six years after Queen Elizabeth II hosted one with the US President.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that King Charles, 76, has given Trump, 79, an official invitation to come to the UK on an “unprecedented” second state visit.
It comes after months of reports suggesting something was in the pipeline, despite his complicated relationship with the royals.
The president and his wife, First Lady Melania, arrived in the UK on September 16 ahead of two days full of engagements with the royals.
This won’t be Trump’s first state visit to Britain as president. In 2019, he made a visit hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.
What did Trump do during his first state visit?
In June 2019, Trump made his first state visit to the UK. He was escorted by the then-Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to Buckingham Palace to meet with Queen Elizabeth II.
There, the UK and US National Anthems were played before a Royal salute and inspection of the Guard of Honour by President Trump and Charles.
After a private lunch, the queen escorted the rumps around a Royal Collection exhibition. It celebrated the relationship between the US and the UK.
A state banquet was also held during the visit, which will happen again during this second visit.
Donald Trump touched Queen Elizabeth II during state visit
One thing that you would not expect someone to do was physically touch the queen in any way. But for some reason, that’s exactly what Donald Trump did.
While attending a state banquet during his visit, Trump gave a speech, acknowledging how much of a “great woman” the queen was.
I was her favourite president. We spent hours together at the state dinner.
The queen returned the sentiment and spoke of her respect for the US. But Trump felt that the moment required him to put his hand on her back.
However, the queen didn’t react much to the move, so either she wasn’t overly shocked at the movement or she knew to hide her shock.
Some royal commentators speculated over whether Trump had broken royal protocol with the move.
What did Trump think of the queen?
Since the visit, Donald Trump has had only positive things to say about the queen and his time in the UK.
Speaking to Fox News after his visit, Donald Trump said the queen had “so much fun” with him.
He said: “I have such a great relationship with her, and we were laughing and having fun. And her people said she hasn’t had so much fun in 25 years. Then I got criticised for it because they said we were having too much fun.”
Queen’s ‘real’ thoughts on Donald Trump
Reports previously claimed that the queen had some differing views on Trump.
In the 2024 book A Voyage Around the Queen, author Craig Brown alleged that the queen actually was put off by the way Trump acted towards her. It was claimed that she found him “very rude”.
The queen had also met Trump in the summer of 2018 as he paid a visit to Windsor Castle.
Brown wrote: “A few weeks after President Trump’s visit, for instance, she confided in one lunch guest that she found him ‘very rude’: she particularly disliked the way he couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting.”
However, Trump has since spoken to the Daily Mail, and called the claims “totally false”.
He said last year: “I was her favourite president. We spent hours together at the state dinner. She was a fantastic woman. I think it’s a shame that a sleaze-bag can write an article that’s totally false.”
Read more: Donald Trump accidentally calls King Charles by the ‘wrong title’ ahead of UK state visit
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