White House, UK still in talks to set date for Trump visit: report
British Queen Elizabeth’s speech at the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday did not mention President Trump’s invitation to visit the United Kingdom, renewing doubts that the president may not visit at all.
The short speech outlined the government’s legislative program and mentioned an upcoming July visit from Spain’s royal couple, but omitted the planned state visit from Trump.
A spokesman for the monarchy told the BBC that the queen did not mention the visit because no date has been set. “The two governments are discussing dates,” the White House reportedly told the BBC.
{mosads}
Earlier this month, a report claimed that Trump expressed concerns to British Prime Minister Theresa May about visiting Britain if there might be large-scale protests against him. The White House denied that the topic came up on the call.
“The queen extended an invitation to President Trump to visit the U.K. and there is no change to those plans,” a spokesman for May told Reuters at the time.
Over 1.8 million people signed a petition protesting the controversial invitation to Trump for fears that it would “cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan previously told Britain’s Channel 4 News that “I don’t think we should roll out the red carpet to the president of the USA in the circumstances where his policies go against everything we stand for.” His statement followed Trump tweeting criticism of the mayor’s handling of the London Bridge terrorist attack in Britain earlier this month.
May extended the invitation to the president and first lady seven days after Trump’s inauguration, when she became the first foreign leader to visit the new president in the White House.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
