US President Donald Trump yesterday met with Queen Elizabeth II at the start of a two-day visit to Britain that is meant to strengthen ties between the two nations, although the trip was immediately at risk of being overshadowed by Brexit turmoil and a political feud with London’s mayor.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump flew to Buckingham Palace in Marine One, landing on a lawn where they were greeted by Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall.
They received a royal gun salute as they walked to the palace where the queen greeted the president with a smile.
Photo: AFP
Even before Air Force One touched down north of London, Trump unleashed a Twitter tirade against London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The move came after a newspaper column in which Khan said Trump did not deserve red-carpet treatment in Britain and was “one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat” from the far-right to liberal democracy.
“@SadiqKhan, who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly “nasty” to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom,” Trump wrote just before landing. “He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London, not me.”
Photo: Reuters
Trump added that Kahn reminded him of the “terrible” mayor of his hometown, New York City Mayor Bill de Blaiso, though “only half his height.”
Trump then added a few warm words for his hosts, tweeting that he was looking forward “to being a great friend to the United Kingdom, and am looking very much forward to my visit.”
The Trumps then boarded Marine One, the presidential helicopter, for the trip from Stansted Airport to the center of London.
The agenda for Trump’s weeklong journey is mostly ceremonial: a state visit and the audience with the queen, D-Day commemoration ceremonies on both sides of the English Channel and his first presidential visit to Ireland, which will include a stay at his coastal golf club.
During a ceremony welcoming him to Buckingham Palace, Trump and Prince Charles inspected the Guard of Honor formed by the Grenadier Guards wearing the traditional bearskin hats.
Royal gun salutes were fired from nearby Green Park and from the Tower of London as part of the pageantry accompanying an official state visit.
After lunch with the queen, the Trumps were to be guests at an extravagant state dinner at Buckingham Palace.
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