Keir Starmer is rolling out the red carpet for the US President – but not everyone is pleased to see him. In fact, hardly anyone is
Keir Starmer tonight rolls out the red carpet for Donald Trump, as he arrives for a lavish second state visit to the UK.
As well as the pomp and pageantry arranged for Trump and First Lady Melania during the two-day visit, the PM hopes to secure progress in trade agreements with the US and influencing the President on Ukraine.
Tomorrow, Trump will be guest of honour at a state banquet at Windsor Castle. And he’ll be treated to horse-drawn carriages, military honor guards and flypasts at every turn of the trip.
But he’ll face angry protests in Windsor and London from Brits who feel it’s wrong to extend such a privilege to a President like Trump.
And there will almost certainly be a few awkward conversations between the two leaders. You know, like “hey man, why did you sack that Ambassador I liked so much?” and “oh, he was in the birthday book too?”
Leading to: “Why does Peter Mandelson’s years-long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein bother you so much, and mine doesn’t?”
Meanwhile, in Trump world:
- He seemed confused about where he was going and why
- A giant banner of him and Epstein was unfurled in Windsor
- MAGA’s embrace of cancel culture is heartwarming to see
- Kash Patel got a rough ride in Congress
- Trump sued the New York Times for 100 million billion bajillion dollars
- Zelensky “will have to make a deal” Trump says
Here’s everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours that you need to know about ahead of Trump’s state visit. Buckle up.
1. Trump seemed extremely confused about where he was going and who he was meeting
Before flying to the UK, President Trump said his second state visit was a “great honour” and that he will be talking to his “friend” the King.
Asked what he hoped to achieve during the visit, Trump said: “My relationship is very good with the UK, and Charles, as you know, who’s now King, is my friend. It’s the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honoured twice. So, it’s a great honour.”
“And this one’s at Windsor,” he added. “They’ve never used Windsor Castle for this before. They use Buckingham Palace. And I don’t want to say one’s better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate, right? So it’s going to be nice.”
Windsor Castle is frequently used for state visits, most recently the visit of Emmanuel Macron in July, and before that the visit of Irish President Michael D Higgins in 2014.
Buckingham Palace is not being used due to refurbishment.
Trump continued: “Primarily it’s to be with Prince Charles (sic) and Camilla. They’re friends of mine for a long time, long before he was King, and it’s an honour to have this King.
“And, you know, I think he represents the country so well. He’s such an elegant gentleman and he represents the country so well.”
2. Oh, here’s that giant banner of Trump and Epstein you ordered
After raising a fairly huge amount of money for the purpose, the campaign group Everyone Hates Elon finally unveiled their magnum opus.
A giant banner of that picture of Trump and Epstein looking all chummy – right next to Windsor Castle.
3. He straight up threatened a journalist on live TV
Before boarding Marine One on the White House South Lawn, the US President berated a journalist who asked him a question he didn’t like, branding it “hate speech” and threatening to have Attorney General Pam Bondi “go after” him.
ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl, whom the president has known for some years, asked Trump about the attorney general’s comments that she will be going after hate speech after the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Karl told Trump that even some of his allies say hate speech is free speech.
Trump responded by telling Karl the administration would “probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly, it’s hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe they’ll have to go after you.”
4. House speaker: ‘Don’t call us fascists!’
House Speaker Mike Johnson warned political leaders not to call their political opponents “Nazis and fascists and enemies of the state because they disagree with their policy priorities”.
Which is funny, because Donald Trump has been calling journalists in general, Joe Biden, Democratic congressman Adam Schiff, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and CBS’ 60 Minutes variations on “enemies of the state/people/from within” for years.
Meanwhile, Johnson has leaned right into MAGA’s newfound fondness for cancel culture – defending employers who take action against employees in the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk.
“That’s not the government censoring speech, that’s personal behavior and decorum,” the Republican from Louisiana said.
5. Speaking of freedom of speech, Trump is “suing” the New York Times for $15 billion
Trump is suing the New York Times for 100 million billion bajillion dollars, because they’ve been mean to him and it’s not fair.
The lawsuit against the paper and four of its journalists, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Florida, says several articles and one book published in the leadup to the 2024 election are “part of a decades-long pattern by the New York Times of intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump.”
Times spokesman Charles Stadtlander said Tuesday the lawsuit “lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting.
“The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics.”
Penguin Random House, which published the book, called the lawsuit “meritless.”
6. Kash Patel got a pretty rough ride before Congress
FBI Director Kash Patel testified before congress today on the work of his agency, and let me tell you, it did not go well.
Patel was already on the wobble with Trump over the whole Epstein thing, and his pre-emptive “WE GOT HIM” tweet after police picked up a random old guy for the murder of Charlie Kirk, only to release him because he was …just a random old guy, has done nothing to endear him to the President.
So when he came before Congress, Democrats, for once, smelled blood in the water.
Let me give, as an example, this exchange with Corey Booker.
And this exchange with Ranking Member Dick Durbin…
7. Trump was not fulsome in his praise for Patel
Asked if he has confidence in Kash Patel, Trump replied: “Well, first of all, I think Pam Bondi has done an unbelievable job.”
Yikes.
He went on: “Kash…you know…take a look at what he did with respect to this horrible person that he just got…he did it in two days…it took other similar cases four days, five days, four years if you look at certain shooters. I have confidence in everyone in the administration.
8. Zelensky is ‘gonna have to make a deal’
If Keir Starmer is hoping for movement from Trump on Ukraine, he may have caught him in the wrong mood.
Asked about the subject on the South Lawn, Trump said: “He’s gonna have to get going and make a deal. He’s gonna have to make a deal. Zelenskyy is gonna have to make a deal.”