Donald Trump will largely avoid London as he tries to shun mass protests during his controversial trip to the UK, the British government has confirmed.
The US President’s four-day tour will instead include a military parade at Winston Churchill’s birthplace of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, talks with Theresa May at her Chequers country home, and tea with the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Trump will spend just a few hours in the capital, when he overnights at the US Ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park.
But he will not visit Downing Street, Buckingham Palace or the Houses of Parliament, all of which are expected to feature the biggest protests ever seen during a visit by an American President.
At each of his major stops, maximum distance will be put between the President and the protestors, but thousands of people are expected to make as much noise as possible to make their presence felt.
The ‘working visit’ lacks the status of a full state visit, but organisers of the event on both sides of the Atlantic have tried to meet Trump’s demands for ceremonial pomp, a military theme and rounds of golf in Scotland.
However, the Stop Trump coalition is still planning a Carnival of Resistance across the entire country, and demonstrations – against Trump’s sexism, racism and treatment of migrants – are planned not just in central London but also some of the stops on his now public itinerary.
With some Britons expected to take days off work to attend the protest, the main demo in London next Friday will start outside the BBC’s headquarters and end at Trafalgar Square. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has given the go-ahead for a giant “Trump baby” inflatable balloon to be tethered above Parliament Square.
Amid security worries, intense secrecy has shrouded the President’s plans for months, but Downing Street finally announced details of the event on Friday.
Trump will arrive on Thursday July 12, when he will come directly from the NATO summit in Brussels.
The Prime Minister will then host the President and the First Lady for a black-tie business dinner at Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of the Spencer Churchill family. The event will begin with a military ceremony performed by the bands of the Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards. The bands will play the Liberty Fanfare, Amazing Grace, and the National Emblem.
Other guests at the dinner include business chiefs representing firms with US-UK trade links in financial services, the travel industry, creative industries, the food and drink sector, engineering, tech, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and defence.
During dinner, the Countess of Wessex’s Orchestra will perform a series of classic British and American hits. The Royal Regiment of Scotland will pipe the President out at the end.
The President and Melania Trump will then overnight at Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence in the middle of Regent’s Park. At both Blenheim and Winfield House, large protests are planned.
The next morning, the President and the Prime Minister will visit a defence site, yet to be made public, to witness a demonstration of the UK’s cutting-edge military capabilities and integrated UK-US military training.
The pair will then travel to Chequers for bilateral talks on a range of foreign policy issues, over a working lunch. Trump and May will then hold a joint press conference, the only point on the visit when media will have direct access to the President.
The President and the First Lady will then travel to Windsor Castle to meet The Queen, a key moment of the entire trip.
On Friday evening, they will travel to Scotland, where they will spend the weekend. It is understood that the British government will play no part in the Scottish leg of the trip as it is a ‘private element’ of the official visit.
Trump may visit his Trump Turnberry resort and play golf with an as yet unnamed fellow golfer. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy played a round with the President at his Florida retreat last year but was criticised afterwards.
The entire four-day trip appears designed to keep protestors at bay. Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire is more than 60 miles from London and is set in 2,000 acres of grounds. Theresa May’s official country residence of Chequers is in Buckinghamshire and well protected from any communal or public gathering spots.
Windsor Castle is heavily protected, although Trump will be able to hear any protests in the streets the other side of its thick stone walls. The President’s limo, dubbed ‘the Beast’, will be used for parts of the trip but he is expected to travel largely via his Marine One helicopter.
The Scottish leg of the trip will see big demonstrations in Glasgow on Friday and Edinburgh on Saturday.
After his UK visit, Trump will then hold a summit with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki, Finland. Putin has to stay in Moscow for the World Cup final next Sunday.