BBC News
US President Donald Trump has suggested Buckingham Palace is “setting a date for September” for his second state visit to the UK.
The president told reporters in the White House on Thursday evening: “I was invited by the King and the country – great country.”
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer handed Trump an invitation letter from King Charles in February during his visit to Washington. Buckingham Palace is yet to confirm a date for the state visit.
Trump was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II during his previous three-day state visit in 2019, which took place during his first term in office.
Traditionally second-term US presidents are not offered a state visit and have instead been invited for tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.
King Charles’ letter proposed a meeting to discuss details of the state visit at either Dumfries House or Balmoral, both in Scotland, a country to which Trump has connections.
Trump’s mother was born and brought up on the Hebridean island of Lewis. This year he is planning to open a new golf course in Aberdeenshire, to be named after his mother.
Speaking on Thursday, Trump said: “They’re going to do a second, as you know, a second fest… that’s what it is: a fest, and it’s beautiful, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened to one person.
“And the reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour… 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.
“And I think they’re setting a date for September.”
Starmer previously said the invite for the second visit was “truly historic” and “unprecedented”.
During the UK prime minister’s visit to the White House in February, Trump showed cameras the contents of the King’s letter.
It read: “Quite apart from this presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom.
“As you will know this is unprecedented by a US president. That is why I would find it helpful for us to be able to discuss, together, a range of options for location and programme content.
“In so doing, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud.”
