US
president arrives on Tuesday ahead of a lavish programme, as Sadiq Khan calls
for UK leaders not to shy away from ‘being critical’
Nadeem
Badshah and Matthew Pearce
Tue 16
Sep 2025 21.46 BST
Donald
Trump has landed in the UK ahead of an unprecedented second state visit.
The US
president and the first lady, Melania Trump, touched down on Tuesday evening at
London Stansted onboard Air Force One ahead of a series of events over the next
two days, including being hosted by King Charles, military parades and a
possible flypast by the Red Arrows alongside British and American F-35 jets.
It comes
amid criticism in the UK of Trump’s policies and rhetoric, with the Stop Trump
Coalition gathering for a protest in Windsor on Tuesday and the group planning
another demonstration in central London on Wednesday.
Writing
in the Guardian, Sadiq Khan accused the US president of doing more than anyone
else to “fan the flames of divisive, far-right politics around the world in
recent years”.
The mayor
of London said the US president’s deployment of the military in US cities and
targeting of minorities was “straight out of the autocrat’s playbook”.
Khan said
that while he understood the pragmatic reasons for maintaining good links with
the US, Britain should not be afraid of criticising a leader who alongside his
allies had “perhaps done the most to fan the flames of divisive, far-right
politics around the world in recent years”.
The
so-called special relationship between the UK and US, Khan said, “includes
being open and honest with each other”, adding: “At times, this means being a
critical friend and speaking truth to power.”
Khan also
publicly clashed with Trump during his first state visit in 2019.
Donald
and Melania Trump were greeted at the foot of the Air Force one steps by the US
chief of protocol, Monica Crowley, and was welcomed by Henry Hood,
lord-in-waiting, on behalf of the king. Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary,
was among those assembled near the foot of the aircraft to meet the president
off the plane.
Trump
then walked with his wife to their helicopter Marine One, which took off at
9.25pm. The Trumps are expected to travel to Winfield House, the official
London residence of the US ambassador in Regent’s Park.
On
Tuesday, about 70 protesters gathered outside Windsor Castle to demonstrate
against Trump’s historic second state visit to the UK, marking the first in a
series of planned demonstrations against the US president throughout his stay.
The Stop
Trump Coalition’s protest stood peacefully on Windsor high street before
marching the short distance up to the castle’s King Henry VIII gateway.
People
held placards and banners condemning the president, chanting “Trump out” and
“say it loud, say it clear: Donald Trump not welcome here”.
“After
the racist march on Saturday, we need to be out, we need to be heard, we need
to show that we don’t support what’s going on in the world right now,” said
protester Lisa Bevan.
Geoff
Holland had come from Southampton to show his support. “[The government] should
be cutting ties,” he said. “They should be making him crawl across broken glass
and beg for a phone call with us, not rolling out the red carpet. It is
repulsive. Does anyone believe that this disgusting man deserves this
unprecedented treatment?”
Jake
Atkinson, spokesperson for the Stop Trump Coalition, said: “Donald Trump’s
politics are politics of fascism and authoritarianism. Not only are we making
our voices heard in opposition to Trump and his politics, but we want to send a
signal to our government, that this is not how the British people feel, it’s
not what the British people want.
“We want
to stand in solidarity with people in the US, with people in Palestine, with
people in Ukraine, and with people all over the world who are seeing Trump’s
politics do damage to our democracy and to our planet.
The King
Charles and Camilla will greet Donald and Melania Trump with a ceremonial
welcome at Windsor Castle. As they shake hands, gun salutes will be fired
simultaneously by the British army in Windsor and at the Tower of London.
The
largest guard of honour ever at a state visit will be presented to Trump for
inspection, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). About 1,300 members of
the British military and 120 horses will be involved, with 160 personnel from
the Royal Marines and Royal Navy, 1,000 from the British army and 140 from the
Royal Air Force.
The US
president, whose taste for pomp and pageantry is well-known, will join Charles
for a carriage procession towards the castle, accompanied by the sovereign’s
escort of the household cavalry mounted regiment.
British
and US musicians will perform a special Beating Retreat military ceremony, the
first time it will be performed at a state visit. The lavish state banquet will
feature performances by the Duchess of Edinburgh’s String Orchestra, the State
Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry and pipers from the Scots Guards.
Trump
will head to Keir Starmer’s country residence Chequers in Buckinghamshire on
Thursday, with aviators from RAF Halton lining the route on his arrival.
In
Windsor some came out in support of Trump. Anne Daley, 65, had come from
Cardiff, brandishing a cardboard cut out of Trump and wearing a “Make America
Great Again” hat.
She said
she hoped Trump’s visit could help broker world peace. “We need him inside the tent,” she said of the president. “We need him as an ally. We need
America. I hope that when they have afternoon tea with the king, they can
[agree] to stop bombing Palestinian people. And stop bombing Ukraine. Children
are being killed – for what
reason?’
One local
resident, David Citrine, 73, said he wouldn’t be protesting, but felt the
demonstration did reflect the views of the majority of UK citizens. “I wouldn’t
say he’s my favourite person in the world,” he said. “[The state visit] is
obviously to placate Trump, but I’d probably prefer it if he wasn’t coming.”
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