By Enyichukwu Enemanna
United Kingdom on Wednesday rolled out the royal red carpet to receive the United States President Donald Trump who is on a second state visit to the country, with an extraordinary show of pomp and pageantry.
King Charles III greeted Trump at Windsor Castle before trade talks the next day with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, the British leader’s rural retreat.
Trump’s visit to London coincides with critical trade negotiations between the US and many of its key trading partners, including the UK.
During his stay, both countries plan to announce several deals on technology and civil nuclear energy, and British leaders hope to finalise an agreement on metal tariffs.
The King and President Trump were deep in conversation as they met outside Windsor Castle, which continued as they stepped into a royal carriage for the procession towards the castle.
Queen Camilla and Melania Trump travelled together in a separate coach, followed by Prince William and Princess Catherine.
Some of the most senior figures in Trump’s administration – including his Secretary of State Marco Rubio and overseas envoy Steve Witkoff – followed behind in a fourth coach.
The Trumps and the King and Queen were then met by a guard of honour as they stood on a red-carpeted raised platform, before the two men carried out a military inspection.
With 1,300 service men and women from the Army, Royal Navy and RAF set to take part, this was the largest ever guard of honour planned for a state visit to the UK.
The much bigger than usual military line-up for the state visit comes as the UK government will seek to encourage the US to maintain its commitment to Nato and support Ukraine.
State visits are a form of soft power diplomacy, using the royal charm offensive to build relations with important international partners – with none more important than the US.
As the visit got under way, a major technology deal was announced with US tech firms investing £31bn in the UK, including £22bn from Microsoft.
This will see co-operation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear power, in a tech deal which Sir Keir Starmer hopes will begin “creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets”.
Trump had earlier said that the UK “want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit… I’m into helping them”.
Ahead of the visit, the owner of Google, Alphabet, announced a £5bn ($6.8bn) investment in the UK’s artificial intelligence research.
