Trump's State Visit to the UK: A Controversial Return

Thu Oct 16 2025 22:29:03 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Former President Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to the UK is set against a backdrop of careful planning, potential protests, and diplomatic tensions. As officials aim to provide a grand experience, the specter of controversy looms large.

Donald Trump is arriving for his second state visit to the UK, which is fraught with risks similar to his first visit. Despite extensive preparations to avoid issues, protests and diplomatic challenges remain significant concerns, affected by recent controversies surrounding the sacking of Lord Mandelson. The visit is viewed as a crucial opportunity for the UK to influence US policy, particularly on trade and international relations.

US President Donald Trump's state visit to the United Kingdom this week will be no stranger to controversy, just as his first was six years ago.

Back then, in June 2019, as well as taking tea with the late Queen, the US President called London Mayor Sadiq Khan a stone-cold loser, backed Boris Johnson in a Tory leadership race and suggested the NHS should be part of US-UK trade talks.

All this was accompanied by a petition saying he should not receive a state visit in the UK, signed by more than one million people, and noisy protests involving thousands and a huge inflatable effigy that became known as the Trump Baby.

This week's second state visit – unprecedented for a non-royal - will prove the first was no exception.

There will again be protests, and Lord Mandelson's sacking as UK ambassador to the US has already cast a diplomatic pall over proceedings.

Planning for the visit - over Wednesday and Thursday - has gone on for months, but for all the careful preparation, the possibility that things could go wrong is still very real. And for many of those organising it, the Mandelson affair is only one of their worries.

For those at the royal end of the show, the focus has been on logistics and security - and turning Windsor Castle into a ring of steel hard enough to satisfy even the most fastidious secret service agents. Such has been the huge American presence that some locals have renamed Windsor Trumpton, after the eponymous town in the 1970s children's TV show.

There will be significant ceremonies with 1,300 troops and 120 horses involved, much more than seen during prior state visits. The visit's focus is on optics and pageantry, intended to ensure Trump feels he has received all the honors of a state visit.

Nonetheless, this state visit comes at a crucial time for UK-US relations, with pressing discussions on trade and international cooperation set to occur amidst the potential for protests and political scrutiny.