President Donald Trump Reveals When Second State Visit to UK Will Take Place

• President Donald Trump suggested that King Charles’ office is “setting a date for September” for his second state visit to the U.K.
• Traditionally, second-term American presidents are not offered a full state visit but may be invited to tea or lunch with the British monarch
• President Trump and King Charles plan to finalize details about the visit at a meeting in Scotland, where the president is opening a new golf course later this year

President Donald Trump has indicated that his second state visit to the United Kingdom may take place in September.

Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, April 17, the president shared that while plans are still being finalized for him to meet with King Charles. “I think they’re setting a date for September,” Trump said.

“It’s an honor,” he added of the invitation. “I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William. We have really just a great respect for the family.”

It’s unclear if September will be the official state visit or a trip to the U.K. to discuss details. The invitation from King Charles proposed that the two heads of state might meet in Scotland prior to the state visit. Trump has ties to the country, as his mother was born there and he plans to open a second Scottish golf course, named for her, later this year.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued the official invitation from the King while meeting with Trump in February. The prime minister called the invitation “unprecedented,” as second-term American presidents have traditionally been welcomed to tea or a meal with the monarch rather than a full-on state visit.

“This is really special. This has never happened before, this is unprecedented,” the prime minister explained while presenting Trump with the letter from King Charles. “I think that just symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us. This is a very special letter, I think the last state visit was a tremendous success. His Majesty the King wants to make this visit even better than that, so this is truly historic.”

The president’s previous state visit came during the reign of King Charles’ mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, who died in 2022. It was initially delayed due to concerns about protests. In addition to other controversies surrounding his relationship with Great Britain, Trump sparked backlash in June 2017 after he criticized London’s mayor in the wake of a terror attack there.

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Trump and his wife, Melania, eventually had their state visit in June 2019, meeting with Queen Elizabeth, then-Prince Charles, the future Queen Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton. The visit coincided with the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Despite her diplomacy, Queen Elizabeth reportedly wasn’t the biggest fan of Trump. In the 2024 documentary The Cowboy and the Queen, Queen Elizabeth’s friend Monty Roberts said she “didn’t like” the American president.

That same year, a biography on the late monarch, A Voyage Around the Queen, reinforced that claim.

“A few weeks after President Trump’s visit, for instance, she confided in one lunch guest that she found him ‘very rude,’ ” wrote Craig Brown. “She particularly disliked the way he couldn’t stop looking over her shoulder, as though in search of others more interesting.”

The state visit will be of particular importance as trade negotiations continue between the two nations following the news of Trump’s international tariff plans, which have since been put on pause.

The president also recently made a surprising comment about joining the British Commonwealth nearly 250 years after the United States declared its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776.

Trump raised eyebrows with a Truth Social post on Friday, March 21, sharing a link to an article from The Sun, which claimed that King Charles will make a “secret offer” during Trump’s upcoming state visit.

According to the report, the British monarch will offer to make the U.S. an “associate member” of the Commonwealth. The voluntary association is currently made up of 56 countries, most formerly under British rule, of which King Charles is the ceremonial head.

“I love King Charles,” Trump captioned the link. “Sounds good to me!”

“This is being discussed at the highest levels,” a source claimed to the Daily Mail. “It would be a wonderful move that would symbolize Britain’s close relationship with the U.S…Donald Trump loves Britain and has great respect for the royal family, so we believe he would see the benefits of this.”