<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After the pomp, it's time for the politics.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US President Donald Trump met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, the final day of the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-uk-visit-king-charles-iii-prepares-to-welcome-trump-windsor-castle/3fc8ad29-f31f-4424-9b29-6c6fbd5fe706" rel="" target="" title="US leader's state visit to Britain"><span>US leader's state visit to Britain</span></a><span>, with tech investment, steel tariffs and potentially tricky talks over Ukraine and Gaza on the agenda.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The president and first lady Melania Trump were feted by </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/king-charles-iii" rel="" target="" title=""><span>King Charles III</span></a><span> and Queen Camilla on Wednesday at Windsor Castle with </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-uk-visit-best-photos-from-us-president-historic-second-state-visit-to-uk/020ddae7-6573-480c-afbb-e0aff7d000ad" rel="" target="" title=""><span>all the pageantry the monarchy can muster</span></a><span>: gold-trimmed carriages, scarlet-clad soldiers, artillery salutes and a glittering banquet in a grand ceremonial hall.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/abc-media-accreditation-for-donald-trump-press-conference-stripped-after-john-lyons-clash-with-president/3ecdf220-85a2-448e-909b-dc78519914a1"><strong><span>ABC denied spot at Trump's UK press conference</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>British officials have festooned the trip with the kind of superlatives Trump revels in: It's an "unprecedented" second state visit for the US leader, featuring the biggest military honor guard ever assembled for such an occasion.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Thursday it is Starmer's turn to welcome the president to Chequers, a 16th-century manor house northwest of London that serves as a rural retreat for British leaders.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After bidding goodbye to the King and Queen at Windsor — Trump called the monarch "a great gentleman, and a great King" — Trump flew by helicopter some 32 kilometres to Chequers, the prime minister's official country retreat.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-uk-visit-pageantry-to-politics-donald-trump-keir-starmer-melania-trump-princess-of-wales/4576c2dd-6721-41fd-9a68-39a9b45f9a0b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was welcomed on the doorstep of the house by the prime minister and his wife, Victoria Starmer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-uk-visit-king-charles-iii-prepares-to-welcome-trump-windsor-castle/3fc8ad29-f31f-4424-9b29-6c6fbd5fe706"><strong><span>'Priceless and eternal': Trump, Charles speak at lavish banquet</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump's British hosts want to celebrate the strength of the US-UK relationship, almost 250 years after its rocky start in 1776.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump will be welcomed by ceremonial honour guard complete with bagpipers — a nod to the president's Scottish heritage — and shown items from the archive of wartime leader Winston Churchill, who coined the term "special relationship" for the bond between the United States and Britain.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There's also a lunch of Dover sole followed by key lime pie, and a display by the Red Devils army parachute team.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Melania Trump marvels at miniature books with Queen Camilla</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The first lady set off on her own itinerary on Thursday to view Queen Mary's Dolls' House and a display of miniature books at the Royal Library.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Accompanied by Queen Camilla, Melania Trump looked at teeny volumes including </span><em><span>Winnie the Pooh</span></em><span> and Arthur Conan Doyle's </span><em><span>How Watson Learned the Trick</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"That's incredible," the first lady said while she admired the work on the miniature books.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two also met with a half-dozen children at the library who were writing and drawing pictures.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This is beautiful," Melania Trump remarked to one child, who was drawing an animal. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Is that a fox?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Trans-Atlantic tech partnership</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To coincide with the visit, Britain said US companies had pledged £150 billion ($307 billion) in investment in the United Kingdom, including £90 billion ($184 billion) from investment firm Blackstone in the next decade.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Investment will also flow the other way, including almost $US30 billion ($45 billion) by pharmaceutical firm GSK in the US.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The two leaders will sign a "tech prosperity deal" that UK officials say will bring thousands of jobs and billions in investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and nuclear energy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It includes a UK arm of Stargate, a Trump-backed AI infrastructure project led by OpenAI, and a host of AI data centres around the UK.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>American firms are announcing 31 billion pounds ($42 billion) investment in the UK's AI sector, including $30 billion from Microsoft for protects including Britain's largest supercomputer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>British officials say they have not agreed to scrap a digital services tax or water down internet regulation to get the deal, some details of which have yet to be announced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The British government is learning that when it comes to deals with the US administration, the devil is in the detail. In May, Starmer and Trump struck a trade agreement that reduced US tariffs on Britain's key auto and aerospace industries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But talks on slashing duties on steel and aluminum to zero from their current level of 25 per cent have stalled, despite a promise in May that the issue would be settled within weeks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The British Chambers of Commerce said failure to cut the tariffs would "greeted with dismay" by the British steel industry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Potentially awkward conversations</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Starmer wants a successful state visit to balance weeks of bad news that saw him lose not just an ambassador but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner — who quit over a tax error on a home purchase — and a senior aide.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Fourteen months after winning a landslide election victory, Starmer's government is struggling to kickstart Britain's sluggish economy and his Labour Party is lagging in the polls.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Leslie Vinjamuri, president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said the trip was likely to be "a difficult visit for the prime minister, much more so than for the US president."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For Trump, "this plays well at home, it plays well abroad. It's almost entirely to President Trump's advantage to turn up to Britain and be celebrated by the British establishment," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Starmer will be bracing for awkward questions about Jeffrey Epstein when he and Trump hold a news conference at Chequers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Days before the state visit, Starmer fired Britain's ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, over the envoy's past friendship with the convicted sex offender.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Questions about Epstein overshadowed Trump's last visit to the UK in July, when he sat with Starmer at his golf club in Scotland.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As they took questions from journalists, Trump was repeatedly peppered with queries about Epstein as his government faced pressure from back home to release government records into the criminal case of the now-disgraced financier, who authorities say killed himself in 2019.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Difficult discussions on Ukraine, Middle East</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>There are also potentially difficult conversations to be had over Ukraine and the Middle East.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Starmer has played a major part in European efforts to shore up US support for Ukraine.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin but has not made good on threats to impose new sanctions on Russia for shunning peace negotiations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As he left Washington for the UK on Tuesday, Trump appeared to put the onus on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying, "He's going to have to make a deal."</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/09/18/00/57/donald-trump-uk-visit-best-photos-from-us-president-historic-second-state-visit-to-uk"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/q43pAUprZSwypqQEIVgDxwMj168=/0x183:1024x759/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Ff122858f-00ee-4369-b751-393fff24b72b" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/q43pAUprZSwypqQEIVgDxwMj168=/0x183:1024x759/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Ff122858f-00ee-4369-b751-393fff24b72b 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/BldFchkcJLqkVxQIwUnnMAYkXko=/0x183:1024x759/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2Ff122858f-00ee-4369-b751-393fff24b72b 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">The moment of Donald Trump's UK visit cameras weren't allowed to see</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/09/18/00/57/donald-trump-uk-visit-best-photos-from-us-president-historic-second-state-visit-to-uk">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Last week's Russian drone incursion into NATO member Poland drew strong condemnation from European NATO allies, and pledges of more planes and troops for the bloc's eastern flank.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump played down the incident's severity, musing that it " could have been a mistake".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The King gave Trump a gentle nudge in his state banquet speech on the strength of the trans-Atlantic relationship. Charles noted that "as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine, to deter aggression and secure peace."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Starmer also departs from Trump on Israel's war in Gaza, and has said the UK will formally recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this month.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has threatened to penalise Canada during trade negotiations for making a similar move.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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