The politics of State Visits
Starmer, much like his predecessor, has played his ace of a State Visit invitation.
Donald Trump likes pomp and circumstance, especially when it is in celebration of himself. Just look at the gilt embellishments which have gone up in the Oval Office since he has returned.
During his first term as president, Trump was openly awed when invited to France’s Bastille Day military parade and made inquiries as to whether it would be possible to do something similar in Washington DC. The “grown-ups” who were then “in the room” at the White House dissuaded him.
The president has not given up. Local officials in the District of Columbia say they have been put on stand-by for a big street event on 15 June, which will be Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. The White House has denied that a big birthday bash is planned, although it may be convenient that 15 June 2025 also happens to be the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the US Army in 1775.
Trump’s vanity made it a shrewd diplomatic move to rush to offer him a second State Visit to the UK, however grovelling and needy the prime minister looked when he presented King Charles III’s invitation before the TV cameras.
Trump regards himself as a King on monarch-to-monarch terms with his fellow heads of state and claims: “I have great respect for King Charles and the family.” He is not inclined to generous gestures, but it may be that this “historic” second invitation to a State Visit shields the UK from the worst of his deluded spite over trade.
Labour prime minister Sir Keir Starmer followed his Conservative predecessor Theresa May in playing his ace of a State Visit invitation, nervously, in the first round of dealing with the new president. Whatever reservations there may have been, this national abasement seems to be working moderately well for now. Trump is flattered – so why spoil it – as some MPs and Lords are doing by kicking up about a possible joint address by the president to both houses of parliament?
The truth is that State Visits to the UK are not usually very important, except to the Royal family who have to work hard being hosts. Trump’s next visit matters only because it matters to him, especially because he is looking forward to “a second fest… that’s what it is, and it’s beautiful, and it’s the first time it has ever happened to one person.”
In the past seventy-five years, only three of the fourteen US presidents since Eisenhower have been treated to the whole State Visit shebang – George W Bush, Barack Obama and Trump. Of course that did not stop the others visiting the UK and in some cases forming close friendships with the royal family and British political leaders. Queen Elizabeth met them all in person, except LBJ.
The resort to official US State Visits in this century confirms that relations between the two countries are becoming less instinctive and more formal, distanced, and business-like.
During her 71-year long reign, Queen Elizabeth II hosted 113 State Visits. King Charles is now on his fifth. Most of them passed off almost unnoticed, such as the visit earlier this year of the Sultan of Qatar. An invitation is a remark of respect to the country of the visiting head of state, but not usually a gesture of intimate liking for the leader or their nation. Sometimes the Royal hosts have to swallow hard.
In 1971, Lord Mountbatten, a close relative of the Royal family, boycotted the state banquet for Emperor Hirohito, out of respect for his Second World War comrades killed by the Japanese.
According to her biographer Robert Hardman, the Queen herself hid behind shrubbery to avoid small talk with her guest Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania, who she considered to have blood on his hands.
President Vladimir Putin paid a State Visit in 2001 as did Xi Jinping of China in 2015.
The King may have hinted how he feels personally about Trump by finding time for a meeting with President Zelensky of Ukraine days after he had been abused and kicked out of the White House.
A first State Visit by President Macron of France has also been slipped in for this May ahead of any possible Trump arrival. It may just be a coincidence that this coincides with the first UK-EU summit since Brexit, ahead of which France seems to have dropped its opposition to full British access to Europe’s expanding defence market.
Thanks to L’Entente Cordiale, there have been more state visits to the UK by our neighbours across the Channel than by any other nation. King Charles and Queen Camilla have already been on a State Visit of their own to France.
Until recently, State Visits involved an official arrival at Victoria Station, followed by a ride in an open top carriage to Buckingham Palace and a full guard of honour reception on Horse Guards parade.
International travellers no longer come to London via Victoria. In recent years, Buckingham Palace has also been undergoing renovation. The focus for State Visits has been shifted to Windsor Castle.This cuts down disruption and mass demonstrations in the capital. Trump’s last State Visit was to Windsor. Memorably, Mayor Sadiq Khan gave permission for protesters to fly a large orange Trump nappy-wearing blimp above Parliament Square.
State Visits are technically the gift of the monarch, not of the government or parliament of the day. Invitations to address both houses of parliament are an add-on - a chance for politicians to get in on the act. In 2017, the controversial House of Commons Speaker John Bercow blocked a proposed address by Trump, with the support of 206 MPs including David Lammy, who is now the foreign secretary and, he says, firm friend of Vice President JD Vance. An invitation did not arise when President Trump paid his first State Visit in 2019. A joint address in Westminster Hall would certainly be a way to make this second State Visit “special” for Trump.
In spite of protests from some parliamentarians, both Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and speaker Lord McFall are standing by plans to give Trump a platform this time. Lords and MPs who are unhappy have the options of not turning up, not applauding, or even voicing their protests.
Meetings with the government and Leader of the Opposition usually take place during a State Visit. Donald Trump did not hold talks with Jeremy Corbyn in 2019 by mutual agreement. When he comes – perhaps as soon as this September, he says – there will be much interest in whether he has meetings with both the Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch and his friend Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK.
State Visits are about civilised relations between nations not the personalities involved. Queen Elizabeth made at least five official trips to the US during her reign including State Visits under president Ford, and both Bushes. Her visit in 1976, for the bicentennial of the American Declaration of Independence from Great Britain, was particularly significant and well appreciated.
Next Year 2026 will mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration. How would British politicians feel if a fit of snubbed pique from President Trump blocks King Charles III from playing his full part in those celebrations?
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