Donald Trump ‘to visit UK in July’ : what can we expect?

Donald Trump will make his first official visit to the UK in mid-July, according to media reports - but the US president won’t be getting the red-carpet treatment.

Trump will join Theresa May for talks at Downing Street, and attend a meeting with the Queen or other members of the Royal Family, according to anonymous sources speaking to The Guardian, Sky News and CNN. Further details about the trip are expected to be given in a formal announcement within the next few days.

However, the controversial US president’s stay will be “minus pomp and ceremony”, and he will not be honoured with a state visit, says The Guardian.

Fears of mass public protests make it unlikely that Trump will be welcomed with an official banquet at Buckingham Palace, or a carriage procession up the Mall. The trip will instead be referred to as a “working visit”, according to Business Insider.

The Prime Minister extended an invitation for a state visit to Trump during her trip to Washington DC shortly after his election. But the plans have been subject to repeated cancellations and delays, and tensions have flared between the two leaders.

In June 2017, May criticised Trump’s response to the terrorist attack on London Bridge and his subsequent comments about London Mayor Sadiq Khan. May and Trump clashed again in November, when she said the president had been “wrong” retweet three anti-Muslim videos originally shared by far-right political group Britain First.

More than 1.8 million people signed a petition at the start of last year calling for May to retract her invitation to Trump.