Trump To Visit UK In July

President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump is to visit the UK on Friday 13 July, after previously cancelling a trip amid claims he would face mass protests.

It will not be the full-blown state visit Mr Trump was promised when Prime Minister Theresa May visited the White House in January last year.

But an invitation to a state visit still stands, the BBC understands.

He will hold bilateral talks with Mrs May, Downing Street said, with further details to be “set out in due course”.

The July date follows the Nato summit in Brussels which the president is expected to attend.

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.

UK ambassador Sir Kim Darroch confirmed the date on Twitter, saying he was “delighted” that Mr Trump would visit the UK.

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 critics said his decision may have been driven by a fear of protests.

Reacting to the announcement of his July visit, 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.”

More than 29,000 people on Facebook have already said they will attend a protest organised by left-wing journalist Owen Jones.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson tweeted that it was “fantastic” news that Mr Trump would “at last” be visiting Britain.

Boris Johnson

@BorisJohnson
FANTASTIC news that President @realdonaldtrump will at last come to Britain on 13 July. Looking forward to seeing our closest ally and friend on the GREATest visit ever. 

5:47 PM – Apr 26, 2018
1,138

Theresa May was the first foreign leader to visit Mr Trump in the White House following his inauguration in January 2017.

She conveyed an invitation from the Queen for Mr Trump to come for a state visit – a formal occasion with much pomp and ceremony. Mr Trump accepted the invitation but a date has yet to be set, amid speculation it has been postponed indefinitely.

Plans for a working visit to the UK in 2018 were announced when Mr Trump met Mrs May at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.

The high-profile state visit to Washington DC of French President Emmanuel Macron this week – and his apparent warm relationship with the president – has led to speculation about the state of the so-called “special relationship” between Britain and the US.