President Donald Trump touched down in the UK on Monday morning for a highly controversial visit. The President of the United States of America and his wife, First Lady Melania Trump, will be spending two days in Britain, just one year after their official visit in July 2018.
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During their trip, Donald and Melania will be officially welcomed by the Queen along with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in the Buckingham Palace Garden before enjoying a lunch at the palace and a visit to the picture gallery, which will showcase items of historical significance to the United States from the Royal collection. The President will then be joined by the Duke of York for a visit to Westminster Abbey ahead of a State Banquet in the evening, where they will be joined by Prince William and Kate.
Donald landed at Winfield House, the US Ambassador’s Residence at the UK, on Monday morning. He will be staying for the duration of his visit. While President Obama and President Clinton both stayed at Buckingham Palace during their official State Visits, the move doesn't appear to be a snub but because the Palace is currently undergoing extensive renovations.
Shortly ahead of arriving in the UK, Donald caused a stir on Twitter by criticising the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, writing: "@SadiqKhan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly 'nasty' to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom. He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me. Kahn reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height. In any event, I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit. Landing now!"
READ: See what lavish gifts the Queen gave President Trump and wife Melania
A spokesperson for Sadiq responded: "This is much more serious than childish insults which should be beneath the President of the United States."
Donald and his wife Melania arrived at Buckingham Palace on Marine One, where they were welcomed by Prince Charles and Camilla on the grounds of the palace. His arrival was shortly followed by a double gun salute in nearby Green Park, while soldiers from the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery led horses pulling six First World War-era field guns into place in order to fire 82 blank artillery rounds at 10-second intervals.
The Prince of Wales and Camilla warmly greeted the President and Melania as they left the helicopter. While Camilla and Melania chatted to one another while making their way to the Palace, Charles and Donald walked ahead to where the Queen was waiting to greet the US President.
Donald has previously said that his visit to the UK will be "very important". Ahead of his visit, he said: "There's a lot going on in the UK and I'm sure it's going to work out very well for them. As you know, they want to do trade with the United States and I think there's an opportunity for a very big trade deal at some point in the near future, and we'll see how that works out."
The group inspected the Guard of Honour during the ceremonial welcome. After landing in the UK, Donald and Melania had two hours of rest time before heading to Buckingham Palace, where the President tweeted about CNN's news coverage. He wrote: "Just arrived in the United Kingdom. The only problem is that @CNN is the primary source of news available from the U.S. After watching it for a short while, I turned it off. All negative & so much Fake News, very bad for U.S. Big ratings drop. Why doesn't owner @ATT do something?"
The Queen gave the President a warm smile and shook his hand upon greeting him, before turning to greet Melania, who similarly shock Her Majesty's hand rather than curtsy. The group went through to the Bow Room, where the Queen introduced the couple to senior members of her household. Meanwhile, Donald also introduced members of his entourage.
Melania looked chic and stylish for the historic engagement in a white pencil dress with a black sash waist and a matching wide rimmed hat. Meanwhile, the Queen wore a muted jade, grey and dusty pink Stuart Parvin ensemble with a matching hat by Rachel Trevor-Morgan. She also wore a stunning emerald, diamond and pearl drop brooch.
During Donald's morning visit to the Palace, protesters already began to gather around the gates of Buckingham Palace to object to the controversial visit. 76-year-old Auriel Glanville told PA: "Donald Trump is a climate change denier. He's a very dangerous man. He's not listening to any of the scientists or David Attenborough that climate change is being caused by human activity... Climate change is at the top of the agenda and he's not addressing that."
Meanwhile, Donald's family had already arrived at the Palace, and Ivanka and Donald Jr Trump could be spotted from an upstairs window as they oversaw their father's arrival. Like the Duchess of Cornwall and Melania Trump, Ivanka appears to have opted for a white outfit for the historic occasion.
During Donald's visit to the Palace, it was confirmed that he would not be meeting Theresa May during his State Visit. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said it was "always going to be the case" and that there was "nothing unusual here".
The group watched the ceremonial welcome at Buckingham Palace ahead of going inside for a private lunch with just Donald, Melania, the Queen and her grandson, Prince Harry. Later, Prince William and Kate will join them for a state banquet dinner.
After greeting Donald, the group headed inside for lunch, which was followed by a viewing of the picture gallery.
The Queen presented Trump with a first edition of The Second World War by Winston S Churchill from 1959. The book has a beautiful gold tooled decoration on the cover, spine and inner cover, an EIIR cypher in gold on the front, silk endpapers and hand-sewn headbands in colours of the US flag with all pages edged in gilt.
READ: Was Melania Trump inspired by Princess Diana for her visit to Buckingham Palace?
Her Majesty also gave him a three-piece Duofold pen set exclusively made for the Queen, along with a specially commissioned silver box with a handcrafted enamel lid. Its royal blue decoration featured roses, thistles and shamrocks to represent the ceiling of the palace music room.
With the US leader's Scottish heritage, a bolt of Harris tweed was pointed out to him during their trip to the picture gallery.
Donald was also shown a pewter horse which he had previously given as a gift to the Queen during his visit to Windsor. When asked if he recognised it, he said, 'No.' Luckily, Melania was there to save the day, and reportedly said: "I think we gave that to the Queen."
Prince Harry can be spotted in the back of the photograph as he attended the special lunch ahead of the picture gallery viewing. According to PA, the royal stayed mainly at the far end of the room chatting to the Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household Earl Peel.
Following lunch, the President made his way from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey and smiled for the cameras while walking into the iconic building. He was welcomed by the Dean of Westminster, who led the prayers at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.
Ivanka and Donald Jr made their way into Westminster Abbey, where they watched their father lay a wreath in honour of the two World Wars and more recent conflicts, as is tradition with a state visit - President George W Bush laid a wreath in 2003 and President Obama in 2011.
Upon visiting Westminster Abbey, Donald placed a wreath on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior while accompanied by the Prince Andrew and his wife, Melania. Standing at the grave, the President touched his hand on the wreath and kept his eyes closed during the prayer.
The Dean of Westminster gave the President and First Lady a tour of the Abbey, and the President was said to 'marvel' at the age of the building after finding out it was originally built in 1296 and will turn 750 years in 2019.
Donald Trump and Melania arrived at Clarence House on Monday afternoon, where they were met by Prince Charles and Camilla.
The two couples posed for a picture in the morning room before moving to private quarters for tea.