Trump to arrive for U.K. state visit as Starmer’s leadership is tested

U.S. President Donald Trump is due to arrive on an unprecedented state visit to the U.K. on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer tries to manage growing dissatisfaction within his party over his leadership.

Mr. Trump and U.S. First Lady Melania Trump are due to arrive in London on Tuesday (September 16, 2025) evening and travel to Windsor Castle, outside London, where they will spend the night. Wednesday’s (September 17, 2025) events are largely ceremonial: Britain’s monarch King Charles III and Queen Camilla will welcome their American guests at a reception and the party will take an open-carriage ride. Mr. Trump will visit the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II and attend a state banquet on Wednesday (September 17, 2025) night.

The monarchy is being deployed to bolster U.K.-U.S. ties, with Mr. Trump being a professed fan of the Royal Family. The President described the king as “a beautiful man, a wonderful man” when he was presented with an invitation for the state visit by Mr. Starmer, when the U.K. Prime Minister visited the White House in February.

Also Read | Trump plays golfs in Scotland while protesters take to streets, decry his visit

Mr. Starmer has emphasised — as has Mr. Trump — that this is an unprecedented second state visit for a U.S. President. The Trumps were hosted by the late British monarch, Elizabeth II, and her husband, Prince Phillip, in 2019 , under Boris Johnson’s Conservative government.

The U.K. has secured relatively favourable trade terms with the U.S. compared to India (which faces 50% tariffs) and the European Union. The U.K.’s ‘reciprocal tariff’ rate for it’s U.S. exports is at the base level of 10%, but some goods like steel and aluminium are tariffed at a higher rate under Section 232. The U.K. still faces 25% tariffs for these goods with other countries facing up to 50%.

These tariffs are likely to be finalised on Thursday (September 18, 2025), when Mr. Starmer hosts Mr. Trump for bilateral talks at his official country residence, Chequers.

The meeting comes days after Prime Minister was compelled to fire the British Ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, whose links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, were closer than previously thought. The extent of Mr. Trump’s own links with Mr. Epstein have become the subject of scrutiny in Washington.

The visit also comes as Mr. Starmer’s political fortunes have been under threat. Days before the Mandelson scandal, Starmer-ally and U.K. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner resigned for not paying enough tax on a house. This resulted in a hasty cabinet reshuffle. Mr. Starmer’s long term prospects in No. 10 Downing Street has since become uncertain, as per reports in the British press, with trade unions and Labour MPs growing increasingly discontent with his delivery track record. The Trump visit could therefore help bolster Mr. Starmer’s position at home if he is able to show concrete deliverables from it.

The U.K. and the U.S. would sign a nuclear energy deal, part of which will facilitate the building of small modular reactors through multinational partnerships, the U.K. government announced on Monday (September 15, 2025). The countries are also expected to sign a tech partnership spanning the AI, quantum computing and semiconductor sectors, among others. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang are expected to accompany Mr. Trump on the visit.

Elon Musk , founder of tech giant X Corp. and former Trump inner-circle member, will not be on the trip. Mr. Musk issued a call to violence over the weekend, as he delivered a video message during a ‘Unite the Kingdom’ protest organised by far right leader Tommy Robinson (whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon). Some 1,10,000 to 1,50,000 people had attended the event as per police estimates.

Mr. Musk had asked protestors to push back against immigration and to “fight back or die” as he called for a general election. Downing Street condemned Mr. Musk’s words on Monday (September 15, 2025) as “dangerous and inflammatory , the Guardian reported.

A group of campaigners, the Stop Trump Coalition, had planned demonstrations in Windsor, London and Edinburgh to protest the visit. A massive security operation was underway for the visit.