It's no secret that President Donald Trump is a fan of 1pomp and circumstance, and the 2pageantry of this visit 3got underway Wednesday at Windsor Castle, where the royal family literally 4rolled out the red carpet. The schedule included a royal 5salute and 6carriage 7procession, a 8state banquet and, of course, the company of the king and queen.
As Trump left for this trip, he 9made it clear he was flattered by the invitation for this rare second state visit.
"My relationship is very good with the UK and Charles, as you know, who is now King, is my friend. And it's the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honored twice, so it’s a great honor. And this was at Windsor. They've never used Windsor Castle for this before. They used Buckingham Palace, and I don't want to say one is better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the 10ultimate, right? So it's going to be nice."
The invite for this 11unprecedented trip came several months ago when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is quite aware of the president's interest in royalty and ceremony, visited the White House to talk trade and various other topics.
"I think the last state visit was a 12tremendous success. His majesty the King wants to make this even better than that. So this is truly historic."
There is likely a broader strategy here as Thursday is expected to be more of a day of business with Trump and Starmer scheduled to meet.
13A host of topics could come up, including Russia's war in Ukraine, the 14escalating war in Gaza, as well as trade.
