UNITED KINGDOM- President Donald Trump will make a state visit to the UK this summer, Buckingham Palace is set to announce.
The US president’s trip is expected to coincide with the 75th anniversary of D-Day on 6 June.
It will be Mr Trump’s first formal state visit to Britain, more than two years after Theresa May extended an invitation following his inauguration.
The trip is expected to include a banquet with the Queen and other members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace, as well as a carriage procession.
But welcoming Mr Trump with pomp and ceremony would be controversial and is almost certain to spark protests.
Thousands of people took part in demonstrations in London and Edinburgh during the president’s two-day working trip to the UK in July last year, and a six-metre inflatable depicting Mr Trump as a baby was flown in the capital.
Mr Trump’s state visit is expected to be confirmed on Tuesday.
A state visit is a formal trip by a head of state at the invitation of the Queen, acting on the advice of the government.
Often they involve the head of state visiting and making a speech in the House of Commons, but speaker John Bercow said in 2017 that Mr Trump should not be allowed to address parliament.
He said: “I feel very strongly that our opposition to racism and to sexism, and our support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary are hugely important considerations in the House of Commons.”
Last week defence minister Tobias Ellwood said Mr Trump should be allowed to address MPs to ensure the UK-US “special relationship” is preserved. He added: “It is greater than any one individual, however controversial.”
Mr Trump would be only the third sitting US president – following George W Bush and Barack Obama – treated to an official UK state visit during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
Labour MPs, including David Lammy and Stella Creasy, reacted with dismay to reports of the imminent announcement.
“Deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic, Donald Trump is no friend of Britain,” tweeted Mr Lammy. ”He is not fit to hold public office, let alone worthy of our country’s highest honours and a banquet with the Queen.”
