The visit of US President Donald Trump to London is gradually taking shape. He is expected to attend a NATO summit in Brussels on July 11 and 12 and arrive in London on the return journey. The spokesperson for the prime minister has confirmed this and has added that he will hold bilateral talks with Theresa May during his visit.
Daily Mail UK reports that the visit will help to improve relations between the two countries. Trump had been invited to come to London soon after he took over but it was put on hold due to fears of mass demonstrations. Even now, he could face such situations but US ambassador Woody Johnson has insisted that he can take them in his stride.
Threats of demonstrations
The visit of Donald Trump to London is finally scheduled for July 13. It is a sensitive issue because Londoners do not want him to come and protest groups have threatened to take to the streets if his itinerary includes the city. The schedule could include talks with Theresa May at her Chequers country retreat with a meeting with the Queen or other royals in Scotland or Windsor. However, it will not fall into the category of a state visit. Last year, more than a million people had signed a petition demanding that the state visit be canceled.
The administration will have to work out suitable strategies to ensure an incident-free visit. It seems thousands of people have announced via a popular social media platform that they will attend a protest hosted by a campaign group calling itself Stop Trump.
Former UK ambassador to Washington Sir Christopher Meyer, while interacting a section of the media, has suggested a way out. In his opinion, if Trump’s helicopter lands behind Buckingham Palace, he would not have to face the protesters.
The visit could take in golf
Donald Trump loves golf and the grapevine adds that he could meet the Queen at Balmoral Castle and engage in a round of golf at the nine-hole course in the Aberdeenshire castle.
Prime Minister Theresa May was one of the first foreign leaders to have met him in the White House after he became the president. However, he has yet to reciprocate. There was an opportunity in February on the occasion of the opening of the new US embassy in London, but it did not materialize.
The discord arose after a Twitter war between Trump and London Mayor Sadiq Khan on the issue of the London Bridge attack. Trump had insinuated that the Mayor was not serious about terrorism and the subsequent uproar forced Trump to delay any visit to the city.
