Senior royal correspondent
Donald Trump has formally accepted an invitation from King Charles III to join him and Queen Camilla for an unprecedented second state visit, Buckingham Palace has said.
The US president will be accompanied by his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, for the trip – which is set to take place from 17 to 19 September – and will be hosted at Windsor Castle.
The location for the state visit was chosen as the typical venue, Buckingham Palace, continues to undergo renovations.
Trump was hosted by Queen Elizabeth II for his first state visit in 2019 during his first term in office.
Traditionally, second-term presidents are not offered a state visit and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch.
A full programme of events has not yet been announced but, like all visits of this kind, it will include a full ceremonial welcome and a state banquet in St George’s Hall in Windsor Castle.
All senior members of the Royal Family will be involved, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, who live on the grounds of the castle.
French President Emmanuel Macron was hosted by the King at Windsor last week, marking the first time a state visit had been held in the Berkshire residence for more than a decade.
Macron and his wife, Brigitte, also took part in a carriage procession through the town of Windsor.
Any visit from a US president brings with it security challenges, and Trump’s programme is unlikely to include events that are public-facing.
During his 2019 visit, there was no procession along The Mall for security reasons and Trump was mostly flown between locations instead of travelling by road.
Getty ImagesIt is also unclear whether Trump will have the opportunity to speak to parliamentarians, which is often included in the choreography of a state visit.
The House of Commons will not be sitting at the time of Trump’s visit as it will be in recess for party conference season – but the House of Lords will be in session.
In February, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer presented Trump with a letter from the King inviting him for the visit at the White House.
As the pair were sitting next to each other in the Oval Office, Trump said it was a “great, great honour”, adding: “And that says at Windsor – that’s really something.”
The state visit will come several months after the King visited Canada, where he opened the country’s parliament to mark the official start of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s leadership.
Many Canadians saw the King’s two-day visit to Ottawa in May as a symbol of support for the country after Trump imposed tariffs on one of its largest trading partners and threatened to make it the 51st US state.
The lure of a state visit for Trump has the potential to be a powerful tool of soft diplomacy by the British government towards a president who is an ardent monarchist.
Speaking in April, he said: “I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William. We have really just a great respect for the family.”
The invitation came as Sir Keir sought to influence Trump over the war in Ukraine and lessen the tariffs placed on UK exports to the US – both issues that continue to dominate the so-called special relationship.
The US president is expected to be in Scotland later this month for the opening of his new golf course in Aberdeenshire.
It had initially been thought that the King and Trump would meet informally during that trip.
But it is understood that there were logistical challenges surrounding the dates and there will be no private meeting ahead of his September visit.
