Trumps arrive in UK for state visit of tradition and tech

Carriages are being polished and pens readied at Windsor Castle and Chequers, as U.S. President Donald Trump embarks on his second state visit to the UK, a three-day trip that is set to be high on both pomp and investment deals.

Trump, who landed in the UK late on Tuesday and spent the night at the U.S. ambassador's residence in London, is the first foreign leader ever to be afforded two state visits to the UK, a sign of the British government's desire to win favor and expand ties with the U.S. on tech and trade as well as nuclear, finance and defense.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer famously pulled the state visit invitation from King Charles III from his pocket and handed it to Trump during a live press spray in the Oval Office, in the heat of negotiations over tariffs.

"It seems almost crude, but it's almost exactly that – the UK knows that its leverage in its soft power when it comes to Trump comes through the royal family – he has a long affiliation and a kind of affinity to the royal family," Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group, a London-based think-tank, told NPR.

On arrival in London, Trump emphasized his relationship with King Charles – "He's been a friend of mine for a long time, and everybody respects him, and they love him" – and the itinerary suggests that the first full day of the visit will be rich with royal pomp and ceremony.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump will spend Wednesday on the Windsor Castle estate, taking part in a carriage procession through the grounds with King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate, laying a wreath at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II, watching a flypast by British and American jets, before a grand state banquet in the evening.

The second state visit is likely to have some things in common with the first, in 2019 – royal pageantry, and some protests – but is also slated to feature substantive agreements on tech and nuclear power, and perhaps some progress on trade as well as enhanced cooperation elsewhere and discussions on international affairs.

Soon after Trump touched down at Stansted Airport, U.S. tech companies including Nvidia and OpenAI pledged around $42 billion of new investment in the UK tech sector, centered on AI capabilities, including around $30 billion over four years from Microsoft on AI infrastructure and its existing operations in the UK.

"Today marks a historic chapter in U.S.-United Kingdom technology collaboration. We are at the Big Bang of the AI era – and the United Kingdom stands in a Goldilocks position, where world-class talent, research and industry converge," Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who is part of the Trump traveling party, said.

Further deals and greater details on those agreements will be on the agenda on Thursday, when Trump travels to Chequers, the prime minister's country residence, for talks with Starmer, a business reception and a press conference.

A "tech prosperity pact" is likely to be rubber-stamped at Chequers, which will include further details on significant U.S. investment in UK-based data centers. Plans to build data centers powered by small modular reactors (SMRs) are also expected to be confirmed, and the tech partnership is set to be geared towards a common approach to AI, quantum computing and rare earth minerals.

A nuclear partnership between the countries, announced on Monday and likely to be signed during the state visit, features a multibillion-pound series of deals to build SMRs and a streamlining of the approval process.

"Together with the U.S., we're building a golden age of nuclear that puts both countries at the forefront of global innovation and investment," Starmer said in a UK government press release.

The UK was ultimately the first country to strike a trade deal with the U.S. in Trump's second term, though while some of the elements are now active many of the details are still being hammered out. Reports suggest UK attempts to reduce tariffs on steel and aluminum are unlikely to be successful, but progress could be made in other areas. "They'd like to see if they can get a little bit better deal, so we'll talk to them," Trump said before leaving Washington.

Starmer will hope the flurry of investment announcements will give him a boost after a difficult two weeks – in which he lost both his deputy prime minister and the U.S. ambassador, and has come under renewed pressure from his own Labour Party. 

However, concerns have been raised about Washington's desire for changes to UK's approach to tech regulation and the extent of U.S. investment in the UK tech sector.

"Whilst I'm pleased that the UK is an attractive place for U.S. investment, the UK needs to take decisions that are in its long-term strategic interest; true technology sovereignty cannot mean being dependent on one investor or country," Chi Onwurah, a Labour MP and chair of the House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, told Politico.