Trump arrives in Windsor to meet King and Queen on state visit

US President Donald Trump has received a lavish ceremonial welcome from King Charles and senior royals in Windsor, on the first full day of his state visit to the UK.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump stepped out of ornate carriages inside the castle’s scenic quadrangle, before an inspection of troops on perfectly-prepared lawns.

Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales were also there to welcome the US visitors, as a band played the Stars and Stripes in this royal charm offensive, which has seen gifts, parades and a flypast.

Trump’s historic second state visit has already been a crowded mix of royal pageantry, trade talks and international politics.

There seemed to be friendly moments between the King and President Trump as they watched the ceremonial parade.

The King jokingly seemed to be warning the president to watch out for the sword of one of the soldiers on parade.

President Trump showed great interest when he was shown around St George’s Chapel, saying: “What a place, what a place” and looking at the Royal Collection’s historic documents about US independence, he commented: “The real deal.”

There was a private meeting too between President Trump and the Prince and Princess of Wales. When the president arrived at Windsor, he appeared to tell Catherine that she looked “beautiful”.

The president has been a long-time admirer of the late Queen Elizabeth and he laid a wreath and paid his respects at her tomb in Windsor.

And official gifts were exchanged:

• President Trump was given a leather volume celebrating the 250th anniversary of the US declaration of independence and the flag that was flying over Buckingham Palace on the day of Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
• Melania Trump was given an Anya Hindmarch handbag and a silver bowl made by Northern Irish artist, Cara Murphy.
• The King was given a symbolic reminder of the military alliance between the UK and US, with a replica of President Eisenhower’s sword.
• For Queen Camilla, there was the gift of a Tiffany gold, diamond and ruby brooch.

The Queen is playing a full part in the visit, having recovered from a health problem, acute sinusitis, which saw her missing the Duchess of Kent’s funeral on Tuesday.

In response to the drizzly weather, the carriages were covered over for their procession around the Windsor estate.

Some of the most senior figures in Trump’s administration – including his Secretary of State Marco Rubio and overseas envoy Steve Witkoff – also took part in the carriage parade.

It’s been a day of events intended to make a positive impression on the president, in a shock-and-awe display of pageantry.

With 1,300 service men and women from the Army, Royal Navy and RAF taking part, this was the largest ever guard of honour planned for a state visit to the UK.

The much bigger than usual military line-up for the state visit comes as the UK government wants to encourage the US to maintain its commitment to Nato and support Ukraine.

But unlike other recent state visits, there are no moments visible to the public, with all the events taking place behind the walls of the Windsor estate or at the PM’s country estate, Chequers.

A protest against the visit is being held in London, but there were also anti-Trump placards in Windsor, out of sight from the US visitors.

Protesters included the anti-monarchy group Republic, whose chief executive, Graham Smith said: “It’s time to fix our democracy and defend the country from those who might want to undermine what democratic rights we have, whether that be Charles or Trump.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer joined Trump to watch a flypast by the Red Arrows over Windsor, although a planned flypast by F-35 fighter jets was stopped by poor weather conditions.

The visit’s centrepiece will be the spectacular banquet in St George’s Hall later on Wednesday, with speeches by King Charles and Trump and a menu that is likely to be a culinary representation of the special relationship, with UK and US food.

Such spectacles will be aimed at pleasing a president who has spoken of his enthusiasm for royalty – and alongside the pageantry and photo opportunities, there will be efforts to influence the US president over trade and international co-operation.

Trump sent positive signals ahead of his journey to the UK aboard Air Force One on Tuesday, calling the visit an “honour” and describing his “very good” relationship with the UK.

A multi-billion US technology investment deal was announced as the visit got under way – but Trump said the trip’s main purpose was to see “my friend” King Charles.

“He represents the country so well, such an elegant gentleman,” he said.

State visits are a form of soft power diplomacy, using the royal charm offensive to build relations with important international partners – with none more important than the US.

As the visit got under way, a major technology deal was announced with US tech firms investing £31bn in the UK, including £22bn from Microsoft.

This will see co-operation in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear power, in a tech deal which Sir Keir Starmer hopes will begin “creating highly skilled jobs, putting more money in people’s pockets”.

Trump had earlier said that the UK “want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit… I’m into helping them.

Ahead of the visit, the owner of Google, Alphabet, announced a £5bn ($6.8bn) investment in the UK’s artificial intelligence research.

And an agreement is to be signed between the US and UK on accelerating the development of nuclear power.

But ambitions to remove the current 25% tariff on UK steel exports to the US seem to have been put on hold – although this remains lower than the 50% tariff facing many other countries.

Anti-Trump protestors had gathered in Windsor on Tuesday – and giant images of Donald Trump and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were projected on to the walls of Windsor Castle.

Thames Valley Police later said four men had been arrested following an “unauthorised projection” and remained in custody.

A heavy security operation will be in place during the presidential visit, which ends on Thursday afternoon.