Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain is almost certain to happen in the first two weeks of September and is almost certain to involve a blockbuster address to parliament. The US president is finalising details of his historic second such trip, which is shaping up to be significantly bigger than the first.
And it is understood that plans are now being made to let Trump give a tubthumping speech to the Mother of Parliaments. The last person to do so in Westminster Hall – the medieval great hall erected in 1097 for William II – was Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in 2023, just three months after his wife and first lady, Olena Zelenska, spoke to MPS.
It is thought Trump would welcome the opportunity to speak in the oldest building on the parliamentary estate, especially if he is able to boast about a peace deal brokered between Russia and Ukraine. His mother was born and brought up on the Hebridean island of Lewis.
Parliament sits again after its summer recess on September 1 but breaks for conference season on September 16, returning on October 13.
That leaves a small window for the visit and what promises to be a box office speech in Westminster.
Trump was personally handed an invitation for a second state visit from King Charles by Sir Keir Starmer when the prime minister held talks in the Oval Office in February.
Speaking of his autumn visit, he revealed, “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.”
President Trump was hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II during his previous three-day state visit in 2019 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.
Barack Obama was the last US president to address parliament, speaking in Westminster Hall in 2011, and before him, it was Ronald Reagan in 1982.
The late Queen spoke six times, the last in 2012, her Diamond Jubilee year, and before that in 2002, 1995, 1988, 1977, and 1965.
Other notable world leaders to have had the honour include Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, French presidents Charles de Gaulle, François Mitterrand, and Nicolas Sarkozy, former South African president Nelson Mandela, and in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI.
There is already opposition to the prospect of Trump appearing in parliament with Labour MP Kate Osborne urging Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to follow his predecessor John Bercow and refuse, with an online petition up and running claiming allowing Trump to do so would be “completely inappropriate” adding: “Parliament should not provide a platform to a figure whose actions and words are so at odds with the principles we hold dear.”
