As Britain prepares to roll out the red carpet for U.S. President Donald Trump on June 3, there will be much analysis of the “special relationship” the two nations have shared for more than seven decades. 

The presidential couple's three-day state visit will involve meeting the Queen, Prime Minister Theresa May and a ceremony in Portsmouth to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the allied invasion of Normandy, France, during World War II.

This will be Trump's second UK visit since taking office. May invited him for a state visit shortly after he became president in 2016, but no date was set. There was speculation that it would happen in 2018, but that was downgraded to a working trip, amid concerns about security and protests. 

The White House has hailed the forthcoming visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the “steadfast relationship” between the two countries.

Not everyone shares the same enthusiasm. Jacob Parakilas, a senior researcher at the London-based think tank Chatham House said: “The prime minister's announcement that she will resign immediately after President Trump's state visit has downgraded the possibility of major outcomes from 'slight' to ‘basically none.'"

“Such visits rarely produce major agreements that aren't teased well in advance, even in calmer times, but May's lame duck status and the continuing uncertainty over Brexit means that there is very little scope for substantive progress in the relationship.”

Trump provokes strong reactions from British opposition parties and the public as well. 

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, other Westminster opposition party leaders and the Commons speaker John Bercow have turned down invitations to a state banquet in honor of the U.S. president at Buckingham Palace. 

The campaign group Stop Trump Coalition expects to see protests during the visit, saying: “This is about sending a strong message that people in the UK don't accept the divisive right-wing policies that Trump stands for and that inviting him for a state visit is totally inappropriate."

Notwithstanding the widespread consternation over the U.S. president's trip, Anglo-American ties have been one of the most enduring alliances of the past century. But that seems to have changed. 

From threatening a trade war with the European Union (EU) to crossing swords with Iran, Trump's erratic foreign policy has put immense strain on U.S.-UK relations. 

Downing Street also opposed Washington's decision to shift the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and was unhappy with the U.S.' response to the violence in Gaza last year. 

Just a day after the UK confirmed the state visit, Trump highlighted on Twitter speculation that British intelligence helped the Obama administration spy on his presidential election campaign.

A self-anointed dealmaker, Trump, even waded into the Brexit debate, criticizing Prime Minister May for ignoring his advice on how to handle talks with Brussels. He went on to insist that a second referendum would be “unfair” and that a speedy post-Brexit UK-U.S. free trade deal was at risk. 

May isn't the only British leader who ended up in the U.S. president's crosshairs. London Mayor Sadiq Khan was accused by Trump of doing a “terrible job” following the 2017 terror attacks in the British capital. 

Britain's relations with the U.S. have seen more bouts of discord than politicians on both sides of the Atlantic might like to admit. 

The post-1945 “special relationship,” a phrase coined by Winston Churchill in 1946, has mostly been a story of unequals with successive British governments trying to convince and cajole Washington from a position of relative weakness. The Trump presidency has made the dynamic even more uncertain. 

Yet, controversies surrounding U.S. presidential visits are nothing new. In 1982, Ronald Reagan encountered furious protests over the deployment of nuclear-tipped cruise missiles at British bases. A hostile reception awaited George W. Bush in 2003, after the invasion of Iraq.

However, despite holding opposing views on a number of global issues, Washington and London share common strategic and economic interests that are critical to the security and prosperity of the Western world's two key allies.

Benjamin Rhode, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies said: “Even though Trump is unpopular with the British people, it remains in British interests to retain close ties with Washington, no matter which U.S. administration is in power. The British government will be keen for Trump to feel welcomed during his visit, and to leave feeling warmly towards the UK.”