Sir Keir Starmer will host Donald Trump at his grace and favour country home on Thursday, as the UK prime minister continues his campaign to woo the US president during his unprecedented second state visit to Britain.
The UK prime minister is hoping to keep the focus of the visit on an influx of American investment into the UK, all while both his government and the Trump administration are plagued by scandals related to the paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Overnight, Mr Starmer announced the prospect of some £150 billion flowing into the UK from big US companies such as Blackstone and Palantir.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will host a business reception in Downing Street for bosses at top US and UK financial firms, including BlackRock, Barclays and Blackstone in a bid to highlight transatlantic econonomic cooperation.
As Mr Starmer and Mr Trump meet at Chequers, the prime minister’s estate in Buckinghamshire, they also plan to sign a technology prosperity deal, touted as offering major investment by US tech firms in Britain, that will help to develop its AI capabilities.
The prime minister will present the US leader with a bespoke ministerial red box styled to take back to the White House, as well as showing him items from the Churchill archives.
The two men will also meet investors including bosses from GSK, Microsoft and Rolls-Royce while UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and US secretary of state Marco Rubio will also have face-to-face talks at Chequers.
Questions have, however, begun to arise over what American companies may want in return, with suggestions a tax on digital services – which largely impacts on US companies – could be reduced or eliminated.
Hopes that a deal aimed at reducing steel tariffs on British imports to the US could be hammered out during the state visit, meanwhile, appear to have fallen by the wayside, media reports have suggested.
Thursday afternoon’s press conference with the two leaders could prove to be the moment of most jeopardy for ensuring the state visit concludes smoothly, as questions about Peter Mandelson and Mr Trump’s links to the late Epstein will likely arise.
Differences of opinion over the situation in the Middle East may also prove difficult for the two men.
Mr Starmer has delayed his plans to recognise a Palestinian state until after Mr Trump’s visit concludes to avoid open disagreement over the matter, the Times reported.
On Wednesday evening, Mr Trump was the guest of honour at a lavish state banquet in Windsor Castle, hosted by Britain's King Charles.
There he paid a heartfelt tribute to America’s relationship with the UK, saying the word “special does not begin to do it justice”, and claimed the nations were “two notes in one chord”.
Among those at the banquet were the chiefs of major American firms, including big names from the tech world Sam Altman of OpenAI, Tim Cook of Apple, and Jensen Huang, the founder of Nvidia.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch was also a guest, despite being sued by the US president over a report linking him to Epstein.
On Wednesday, thousands marched through London in protest against the US president’s state visit.
YouGov polling suggests nearly half of the British population (45 per cent) believe it was wrong to invite Mr Trump for the visit, while 30 per cent think it was right to do so.
