UK shows Trump how much they need ‘special relationship’ with US

The British monarchy cranked up the pagentry for President Trump Wednesday, paying tribute to the “Special Relationship” between the US and UK at its most fraught point in more than half a century.

On the first full day of Trump’s unprecedented second state visit across the pond, he and first lady Melania Trump got the royal treatment in the form of a personal greeting from King Charles III; Queen Camilla; Prince William, the heir to the throne; and Catherine, Princess of Wales — followed by the largest military ceremonial welcome ever.

From a carriage procession to a 200-piece military band and an extravagant banquet in 11th century Windsor Castle, Wednesday’s agenda seemed tailor-made to please Trump, a well-known admirer of both the British royals and pomp and circumstance.

“A lot of things here warm my heart,” President Trump told reporters after landing in London on Tuesday, describing King Charles, who is undergoing cancer treatment, as “my friend.”

Forgotten, at least for one day, was recent sparring between Washington and London over trade relations, free speech, Big Tech, how to deal with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza to destroy Hamas.

But reality will be waiting when Trump holds a closely watched bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the latter’s country residence, Chequers, on Thursday.

The presidential visit is the climax of a charm offensive begun seven months ago, when Starmer presented Trump with a letter from King Charles inviting him to the UK at a time when the alliance seemed strained over the war in Ukraine.

Since then, Starmer has been further damaged by controversy over immigration and political scandal, having fired Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson just last week following the emergence of embassaing emails between the envoy and late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Top of the agenda will be economic relations, after a proposed agreement to eliminate tariffs on British steel exports to the US was put on hold hours before Air Force One touched down at Stansted Airport.

Wednesday’s state banquet invitees included the CEOs of British economic mainstays Rolls-Royce, BAE and GSK, along with American executives Tim Cook of Apple and Larry Fink of BlackRock, highlighting again the important business ties between the two countries ahead of the crunch talks.

The UK hopes to secure deals worth more than $10 billion during Trump’s two-day visit, but may have to swallow some scoldings in exchange.

What to know about Trump’s UK state visit

Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have attacked British laws on free speech grounds, slamming the UK’s Online Safety Act and warning publicly that freedom in Europe is “in retreat.”

“If you are running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,” Vance told a room of stunned diplomats at the Munich Security Conference in February.

In recent weeks, the UK has seen fresh protests, with more than 100,000 joining a weekend anti-immigrant “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London, at which Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk appeared via video link to call for Starmer’s ouster.

“You can’t – we don’t have another four years, or whenever the next election is, it’s too long. Something’s got to be done. There’s got to be a dissolution of Parliament and a new vote held,” Musk said, warning that the British public are “scared to exercise their free speech” today.

“You’re in a fundamental situation here. Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die, that’s the truth I think.”