Theresa May will urge Donald Trump to avoid London protests and visit her at Chequers instead
Britain’s ambassador to Washington DC, Sir Kim Darroch, will present the PM’s plan to the White House for the US President’s first visit to Britain in July
THERESA May will this week urge Donald Trump to avoid central London protesters and meet her in Chequers instead.
Britain’s ambassador to Washington DC, Sir Kim Darroch, will present the PM’s plan to the White House for the US President’s first visit to Britain in July.
As well as keeping him away from Downing Street, No10 will also propose he takes tea with the Queen in Windsor Castle instead of Buckingham Palace.
It is hoped the American leader will not be able to resist being snapped at the site where Prince Harry married Meghan Markle 10 days ago.
A third out-of-town attraction is also being lined up to entertain Trump – a visit to his hero Winston Churchill’s birthplace, Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
The president has told Mrs May he wants to pay homage to the legendary World War Two Prime Minister during his three day visit to Britain.
Tens of thousands of protesters have vowed to take to London’s streets if Trump comes to the nation’s capital, potentially plunging the visit into a diplomatic disaster.
The trip - from July 12-14 - is seen by No10 as very high stakes, as upsetting the volatile property billionaire could lead to another setback in the PM’s strained relations with him.
Chequers, Windsor Castle and Blenheim Palace are all on large estates where protesters can be kept miles back and out of sight.
All three locations are also west of London, and a short hop from each other in the President’s Marine One helicopter.
A senior Whitehall source said: “Two proposals are going to be put to the White House by Sir Kim with the PM’s approval – one for a Downing street visit, and one to base it around Chequers.
“We have full programmes for both, but it will be made very clear that we would very much prefer it if the president chooses the Chequers option.”
Talks at the PM’s country retreat in the Buckinghamshire countryside will be sold to Trump as one of the most ‘presidential’ things he could do while in the UK.
A host of US presidents have been there, from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Richard Nixon and George W. Bush, as well as other world dignitaries, including Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
A military component to Trump’s visit to cement the Transatlantic security alliance is also being planned for the Friday, after dinner with Mrs May on Thursday night and a round of golf in Scotland with a celebrity on Saturday.
It is expected to involve a joint inspection with the PM of the RAF’s brand new US-made F-35B Lightning jets, or a visit to the giant new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, moored in Portsmouth.
An earlier plan for her to take him to GCHQ’s famous ‘doughnut’ HQ in Cheltenham has now been scrapped.
Diplomats feared it would draw too much attention to his false accusations against the eavesdropping intelligence agency last year, when he accused it of tapping his phone calls during the US presidential campaign on President Obama’s request.
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The Sun Says: Mrs May should roll out red carpet for Trump
TRYING to smuggle the US president in through the back door on his trip to Britain isn’t the brightest idea.
For one thing, it won’t work. “The Donald” isn’t exactly shy and retiring.
But more to the point, when the president’s in town we should celebrate our special relationship, and all its benefits. We did when Barack Obama was here.
Once we’re freed from the EU, we’ll be able to build stronger partnerships with the rest of the world, the US included.
Those links will be based on economics and security, and the UK and the US are close allies on both.
Yes, Labour’s lazy student politicians will complain about the president’s tweets, but that’s no reason to hide him in the Home Counties.
The PM shouldn’t be ashamed of operating in Britain’s national interest.
She should roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump.
Mr Trump cancelled a planned visit to London to open the new US embassy in February this year, complaining its move to south of the Thames had been a “bad deal”.
But critics said his decision was driven by a fear of protests after he retweeted race hate videos by far right group Britain First.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has fought a running feud with Trump, told him he will see that “Londoners hold their liberal values of freedom of speech very dear” if he comes to the capital.
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