The White House has officially revealed the exact date Donald Trump will visit the UK
President Donald Trump is to visit the UK on July 13 and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Theresa May, Britain’s ambassador to the US has said.
The long-awaited and controversial trip is expected to be a “working visit” rather than a full-blown state occasion.
Downing Street and the White House had hoped to co-ordinate releasing details of the trip, but Mr Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders apparently let slip the information first.
British ambassador to the US, Sir Kim Darroch, tweeted: “Delighted that President @realDonaldTrump will visit the UK on 13 July and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister May.”
The PM’s spokesman said: “The President of the United States will visit the UK on July 13. He will hold bilateral talks with the Prime Minister during his visit. Further details will be set out in due course.”
Mr Trump’s visit is likely to attract major protests, and even his supporters have urged him to stay away from London in an effort to avoid mass demonstrations.
In a letter to the US President, six conservative groups recommend he should instead focus his visit on his “ancestral home” of Scotland, including a meeting with the Queen at Balmoral.
Plans for a working visit to the UK in 2018 were announced when Mr Trump met Mrs May at Davos in January.
Interest in Mr Trump’s plans has been fuelled by this week’s high-profile state visit to the US of Emmanuel Macron, which some commentators have framed as a bid by the French president to make Paris Washington’s first port of call in Europe following Brexit.
Mr Trump cancelled a planned trip to London to open the new US embassy in Vauxhall earlier this year, complaining the move to an “off location” south of the Thames had been a “bad deal”.
But it is thought his decision may have been driven by a fear of protests in the capital, with whose mayor Sadiq Khan he has clashed over his response to terrorism.
The expectation of demonstrations is also believed to have played a part in the postponement of a state visit mooted for 2017.
That trip – which would involve lavish ceremonies and a stay with the Queen at Buckingham Palace – has been put off indefinitely, though Number 10 insists the invitation stands.
In response to the announcement that Donald Trump will visit the UK on July 13, Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, said: “When Donald Trump arrives on these shores, we and thousands of our supporters will very definitely be making our voices heard.
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“In the 15 months of his presidency, we’ve seen a deeply disturbing human rights roll-back – including the discriminatory travel ban, his reckless announcement on Jerusalem, and harmful policies on refugees, women’s rights and climate change.
“Since moving into the White House, Mr Trump has shown an impatience bordering on intolerance toward peaceful protests, the media and even the democratic process itself.
“So his visit to Britain will be an important opportunity to underline the importance of free speech and the right to protest.”
