The US president has met with the British royal family, but exacerbated a feud with London's mayor after arriving in the UK. Donald Trump has been accused of "entirely unacceptable interference" for his Brexit comments.
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US President Donald Trump is in the UK for a state visit that has been overshadowed by his recent controversial remarks on Brexit. Protests took place on Monday as Trump began his three-day trip, just as they did during his visit to Britain last year.
Trump and his wife, Melania, were treated to a military guard of honor at Buckingham Palace shortly after a 41-gun royal salute coming from neighboring Green Park.
Queen Elizabeth II then hosted a private lunch for the president and first lady, before showing them the royal art collection, while demonstrations continued outside the royal residence.
The president and first lady attended a banquet at the palace when Trump described the Queen as a "great, great woman," had tea with Prince Charles and visited the tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.
Trump is due to hold private talks on Tuesday with Prime Minister Theresa May, who is stepping down on June 7 after failing to get support for her Brexit plan.
The prime minister's office said the president would be given a tour of the World War II Cabinet War Rooms museum, and that the two leaders together would host a roundtable discussion with US and UK businesses.
Several high-level opposition politicians announced their intention to skip the banquet in protest of Trump's antagonistic rhetoric. Recently, Trump suggested that Britain walk away from Brexit talks and refuse to pay the £39 billion (€45 billion, $50 billion) divorce fee May's government has negotiated with Brussels.
Donald Trump in the UK: Pomp and protest
US President Donald Trump has arrived in London for a three-day state visit. His meetings with the British royal family are as much a focal point of the trip as the large-scale protests.
Image: Reuters/T. Melville
Touchdown in Stansted
US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania exit Air Force One after arriving at Stansted Airport near London on Monday. The American president is scheduled to spend three days in the UK before traveling to Ireland and France as part of commemorations for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
Image: Reuters/H. McKay
Attacking Khan
Shortly before landing, Trump took to Twitter to issue a scathing response to London Mayor Sadiq Khan. In a column for <i>The Observer</i> over the weekend, Khan wrote: "It's un-British to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump." The US president called Khan a "stone cold loser," saying the London mayor had been "foolishly 'nasty' to the visiting president."
Image: Reuters/H. McKay
Mass protests in London
A "Resist Trump" banner from Amnesty International hangs from the Vauxhall Bridge following Trump's arrival in the UK. Large protests are taking place during the US president's visit, as was the case during his trip last year.
Image: Getty Images/D. Kitwood
Royal welcome
Britain's Prince Charles greets Trump at Buckingham Palace. The two spent much of Monday together, in a schedule which involved inspecting the guard of honor, tea and a state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.
Image: Reuters/T. Melville
Don't host "sexist, racist, bully'
A protester holds a placard telling the queen not to host Trump at Buckingham Palace. Shakira Rahman, 11, joined a group of other demonstrators outside Buckingham Palace ahead of Monday's banquet.
Image: picture-alliance/Matrixpictures
Queen's company
The Trumps stand with Queen Elizabeth during a welcome ceremony at Buckingham Palace. No confirmation yet on whether or not Melania tried to coordinate her hat with the queen.
Image: Reuters/T. Melville
Loose cannons
The Honourable Artillery Company fires a 103-gun salute near the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Of those, 41 guns were fired for Trump's state visit, a further 41 for the 66th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation and 21 for the City of London.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com/V. Flores
Fever pitch outside the palace
Two citizens vehemently exchanging their views on Trump's state visit to the UK. One appeared to be wearing a "Make America Great Again" baseball cap in support of Trump, while the other seems less enthusiastic about the president's royal welcome.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/G. Fuller
Subtle rebuke at state dinner
The US leader rounded out the first day of his state visit with a lavish banquet at Buckingham Palace on Monday evening. In a subtle criticism of Trump, Queen Elizabeth used her toast to emphasize the importance of international institutions that were set up by the US and UK after World War II. Trump has frequently criticized the United Nations and NATO.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/D. Lipinski
Trump talks trade with May
On Tuesday, Trump met with Prime Minister Theresa May as well as UK and US business representatives. Both leaders said they were committed to cementing a bilateral trade agreement after Brexit, but differed in other issues, including the climate crisis and Iran.
Image: Reuters/S. Rousseau
Trump Baby flies again
The infamous Trump baby balloon was re-inflated for the US leader's state visit, bobbing in the air near Parliament Square on the second day of his trip. In a move that is likely to further anger protesters, Trump said during a press conference that "everything will be on the table" during trade talks, including the UK's cherished National Health Service (NHS).
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T. Akmen
'Carnival of Resistance'
As thousands of people took to the streets of London to take part in the "Carnival of Resistance" protest, several people were selling toilet paper printed with the US president's face on it. A parade float depicting Trump sitting on a golden toilet was also present at the protests, too.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. McBride
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'Entirely unacceptable interference'
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned Trump's comments as "entirely unacceptable interference in our democracy." Corbyn has also criticized the way the government has rolled out the red carpet for a man who "rips up vital international treaties, backs climate change denial and uses racist and misogynist rhetoric."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called it "un-British" to "roll out the red carpet" for Trump, in an op-ed for The Observer, a Sunday newspaper. In a Twitter post, he wrote that Trump's "behavior flies in the face of ideals America was founded upon."
In the interview with The Sun ahead of his visit, Trump used the term "nasty" to refer to the American-born Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, when he found out that she had heavily criticized him before her marriage to Prince Harry. He later denied he had used the term on Twitter; the newspaper then posted the audio of the interview on its website.
On Monday, shortly before his arrival in the UK, Trump openly used the term on Twitter, accusing London's mayor of being "'nasty' to the visiting president of the United States." He went on to call Khan a "stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me."
Prime Minister May, however, was keen to put a positive spin on the visit, praising the long-standing alliance between the two countries.
"Our relationship has underpinned our countries' security and prosperity for many years, and will continue to do so for generations to come," she said.
Brexit timeline: Charting Britain's turbulent exodus from Europe
Britain shocked the world when it voted to leave the European Union on June 24, 2016. DW traces the major events that have defined Brexit so far.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/Y. Mok
June 2016: 'The will of the British people'
After a shrill referendum campaign, nearly 52% of British voters opted to leave the EU on June 23. Polls had shown a close race before the vote with a slight lead for those favoring remaining in the EU. Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay, acknowledged the "will of the British people" and resigned the following morning.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Rain
July 2016: 'Brexit means Brexit'
Former Home Secretary Theresa May replaced David Cameron as prime minister on July 11 and promised the country that "Brexit means Brexit." May had quietly supported the Remain campaign before the referendum. She did not initially say when her government would trigger Article 50 of the EU treaty to start the two-year talks leading to Britain's formal exit.
Image: Reuters/D. Lipinski
March 2017: 'We already miss you'
May eventually signed a diplomatic letter over six months later on March 29, 2017 to trigger Article 50. Hours later, Britain's ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, handed the note to European Council President Donald Tusk. Britain's exit was officially set for March 29, 2019. Tusk ended his brief statement on the decision with: "We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye."
Image: picture alliance / Photoshot
June 2017: And they're off!
British Brexit Secretary David Davis and the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, kicked off talks in Brussels on June 19. The first round ended with Britain reluctantly agreeing to follow the EU's timeline for the rest of the negotiations. The timeline split talks into two phases. The first would settle the terms of Britain's exit, and the second the terms of the EU-UK relationship post-Brexit.
Image: picture alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com/W. Daboski
July-October 2017: Money, rights and Ireland
The second round of talks in mid-July began with an unflattering photo of a seemingly unprepared British team. It and subsequent rounds ended with little progress on three phase one issues: How much Britain still needed to pay into the EU budget after it leaves, the post-Brexit rights of EU and British citizens and whether Britain could keep an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Image: Getty Images/T.Charlier
December 2017: Go-ahead for phase 2
Leaders of the remaining 27 EU members formally agreed that "sufficient progress" had been made to move on to phase two issues: the post-Brexit transition period and the future UK-EU trading relationship. While Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her delight at the decision, European Council President Tusk ominously warned that the second stage of talks would be "dramatically difficult."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/dpa/O. Matthys
July 2018: Johnson, Davis resign
British ministers appeared to back a Brexit plan at May's Chequers residence on July 6. The proposal would have kept Britain in a "combined customs territory" with the EU and signed up to a "common rulebook" on all goods. That went too far for British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis, who resigned a few days later. May replaced them with Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/G. Fuller
September 2018: No cherries for Britain
May's Chequers proposal did not go down well with EU leaders, who told her at a summit in Salzburg in late September that it was unacceptable. EU Council President Tusk trolled May on Instagram, captioning a picture of himself and May looking at cakes with the line: "A piece of cake perhaps? Sorry, no cherries." The gag echoed previous EU accusations of British cherry-picking.
Image: Reuters/P. Nicholls
November 2018: Breakthrough in Brussels
EU leaders endorsed a 585-page draft divorce deal and political declaration on post-Brexit ties in late November. The draft had been widely condemned by pro- and anti-Brexit lawmakers in the British Parliament only weeks earlier. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab resigned along with several other ministers, and dozens of Conservative Party members tried to trigger a no-confidence vote in May.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Dunand
December 2018: May survives rebellion
In the face of unrelenting opposition, May postponed a parliamentary vote on the deal on December 10. The next day, she met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to seek reassurances that would, she hoped, be enough to convince skeptical lawmakers to back the deal. But while she was away, hard-line Conservative lawmakers triggered a no-confidence vote. May won the vote a day later.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
January 2019: Agreement voted down
The UK Parliament voted 432 to 202 against May's Brexit deal on January 16. In response to the result, European Council President Donald Tusk suggested the only solution was for the UK to stay in the EU. Meanwhile, Britain's Labour Party called for a no-confidence vote in the prime minister, her second leadership challenge in as many months.
Image: Reuters
March 2019: Second defeat for May's deal
May tried to get legal changes to the deal's so-called Irish backstop in the weeks that followed. She eventually got assurances that the UK could suspend the backstop under certain circumstances. But on March 12, Parliament voted against the revised Brexit deal by 391 to 242. EU leaders warned the vote increased the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. Two days later, MPs voted to delay Brexit.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/T. Ireland
March 2019: Extension after second defeat
Following the second defeat of May's divorce deal, the European Council met in Brussels on March 21 to decide what to do next. EU leaders gave May two options: delay Brexit until May 22 if MPs vote for the withdrawal deal or delay it until April 12 if they vote against the deal. If the deal were to fail again in Parliament, May could ask for a long extension.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Augstein
March 2019: Brexit deal rejected a third time
On March 29, the day that the UK was supposed to leave the EU, British lawmakers voted for a third time against May's deal — rejecting it this time with a vote of 344 to 286. Following the latest defeat, May approached the main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in an attempt to find a compromise, angering hardline Brexiteers in her own Conservative party.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/House of Commons/M. Duffy
April 2019: Brexit delayed until Halloween
With the April 12 deadline looming after the third defeat of May's deal, EU leaders met again in Brussels to discuss a second delay. The only question was how long should it be? In the end, the UK and EU agreed to a "flexible" extension until October 31 — which can end sooner if the Brexit deal is approved. The UK had to take part in EU elections in May because their exit wasn't secured in time.
Image: Reuters/E. Plevier
May 2019: Prime Minister Theresa May resigns
Weeks of talks between Prime Minister Theresa May and the Labour party to reach a deal proved unsuccessful and further eroded her political capital. She triggered an angry backlash from her party after she tried to put the option of a second referendum on the table. The series of failures led May to announce her resignation, effective June 7, in an emotional address.
Image: Reuters/H. McKay
June 2019: Search for a new prime minister
After Theresa May announced on June 7 that she would leave office, other members of her Conservative party began clamoring for the top job. Within a month, the leadership battle came down to Jeremy Hunt (left), an EU proponent who fears a no-deal scenario, and Boris Johnson (right), one of the main proponents of Brexit.
July 2019: Prime Minister Boris Johnson
At the end of July 2019, Johnson was officially named Theresa May's successor as British prime minister. "We are going to energize the country, we are going to get Brexit done by October 31," he said after he was elected leader of the Conservative Party.
Image: Imago Images/Zuma/G. C. Wright
September 2019: Johnson's election threat
Conservative rebels and opposition MPs backed efforts to delay an October 31 Brexit deadline in fear of a no-deal departure. In response, Johnson called for a general election, saying his government cannot rule without a mandate after he stripped 21 rebel MPs of their Conservative status. The Labour Party said it would not back elections until legislation to block a no-deal Brexit was in place.
In late September, Britain's highest court ruled that Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament ahead of the UK's planned exit was unlawful. "This was not a normal prorogation in the run-up to a Queen's Speech," said the Supreme Court. Political rivals immediately called on Johnson to leave his post. Johnson said he would abide by the court ruling, though said he "strongly" disagreed.
Image: Reuters/H. Nicholls
October 2019: A new deal
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson managed to secure a deal with European negotiators that would allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly manner. The deal received unanimous backing from the leaders of 27 other member states. But an attempt to get the UK Parliament to sign off on the deal failed. Instead, Parliament pushed for the Brexit deadline to be extended until the end of January 2020.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/F. Augstein
December 2019: Lawmakers vote for Johnson's Withdrawal Bill
On December 22, UK lawmakers vote for Prime Minister Johnson's European Union withdrawal bill, which will see a leave date of January 31 2020 enshrined in law. Getting a majority to vote to pass the bill in the lower house has proven a major sticking point for the PM, but following a general election Johnson's Conservative party won control of the house and the bill passed with a 124 majority.
Image: picture-alliance/empics/House of Commons
December 2020: EU, UK 'finally' reach trade deal
After months of disagreements over fishing rights and future business rules, the EU and UK clinched a post-Brexit trade deal on Christmas Eve. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the deal, saying the UK has "taken back control of our laws and our destiny." The deal will allow the UK and the EU to trade without tariffs, but also impose limitations on free movement and financial services.