Trump heaps praise on May’s handling of Brexit

Our live coverage of day two has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read more or head here for coverage of the final day of Trump’s UK state visit.

The place setting of President Trump is pictured on the top table ahead of a dinner with Prince Charles at Winfield House in London on June 4, 2019.

A dinner, planned by first lady Melania Trump, is underway at Winfield House right now.

Here are some details about the seating arrangements:

Here are a few of the notable attendees:

Watch for more:

Ever wonder what it’s like to eat like royalty? Here’s what’s on the menu tonight as President Trump and first lady Melania Trump host Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Winfield House:

To drink, guests can choose from Iron Horse Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, or Brut Reserve.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump pose ahead of a dinner at Winfield House for Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during their state visit on June 4, 2019 in London, England.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are hosting a dinner Tuesday night for Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

The Trumps welcomed Charles and Camilla at the US ambassador’s residence in Winfield House in Central London.

CNN’s Kate Bennett reported that the first lady has been working on all the details for the dinner for the past several weeks, including the menu, guest list, seating charts and flowers.

“She was very actively involved planning it back home at the?White House.?But working in concert with the?people here at Winfield house in?London as they host this dinner,” Bennett noted. “This is a?reciprocal dinner — the night after the state banquet at Buckingham Palace. This is something the?Obamas did as well.?They hosted the Queen and Prince?Philip and tonight we’ll see?Prince Charles and Camilla in?the place of the Queen.”

Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit Party, took to Twitter Tuesday following his meeting with President Trump at the US ambassador’s residence in Winfield House in central London.

Here’s what he said about the meeting:

Protesters holding placards stand in the rain at Parliament Square as President Trump and first lady Melania Trump visit 10 Downing street for a meeting on June 4, 2019 in London.

Britons’ passion to show their dislike of the America President somewhat fizzled today — at least compared to the hundreds of thousands of protesters that thronged through Central London at last year’s anti-Trump protest.

The rainy forecast didn’t lend any favors to the organizers of the midweek protest. (For comparison, 2018’s demonstration had clear skies and took place on a Friday.)

Here’s what both protests had in common: the 20-foot “Trump Baby” blimp took the skies. UK opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn made a speech, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Trump were trading barbs.

But that’s not to say there wasn’t any spirit on display on Tuesday. “Our NHS is NOT on the table,” read one sign, in reference to Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, indicating that Britain’s publicly funded health system could feature in future trade negotiations with the UK.

Some protesters used the gathering in Trafalgar Square, and its ensuing rain-filled march to outside Parliament, as an opportunity to air their opposition to Trump’s stance on immigration, women’s rights and climate change.

“Someone in a position of power should not be denying science, they shouldn’t be denying something that is fundamentally undeniable,” said 15-year-old student Izzy Warren, who is part of a coalition of young climate change activists responsible for a series of strikes across the country over the issue.

Behind her, a crowd of thousands chanted: “‘Say it loud say it clear Donald Trump is not welcome here.”

Nigel Farage is driven into the US ambassador's residence in London

Barely an hour after Donald Trump’s joint press conference with Theresa May ended, all eyes shifted to the spectacle of Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party, being driven into Winfield House, the residence of the US ambassador to London, where Trump is staying.

In the opulent setting of the Foreign Office, Trump was effusive in his praise for the departing May. But the fact that, in the next breath, he was meeting her nemesis, served to underscore the mess the UK’s political system is in.

May announced her intention to stand down last month, as her governing Conservative party took a drubbing in the European elections. The winner of that election was none other than Farage, who has capitalized on the government’s failure to deliver on the Brexit result.

As Trump stood next to May, he heaped praise on her approach to the Brexit negotiations, said that she was leaving the country in a very good place and even suggested that she might be a better negotiator than the President himself. “I think you deserve a lot of credit. I really do.”?

All that will ring a little hollow as he welcomes his “friend” Farage, a man who has twice bought the Conservative Party to its knees over Europe.

Meeting with Trump works for Farage as it plays to his hard Brexiteer base. But the President’s limited popularity in the UK makes an endorsement less appealing.

Boris Johnson, the current favorite to replace May, declined a meeting with Trump, citing a previously planned event for his campaign. He did, however, hold a 20-minute phone call with the President.

For Johnson, it’s possible that declining to meet with Trump in person is more useful than a thumping endorsement. Looking too chummy with Trump could come back to bite him, whereas a short phone call shows that Johnson is a mature politician who wants a good relationship with America. Perhaps.?

The opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, spent his afternoon at an anti-Trump rally. This plays well to his base, who loathe Trump’s brand of nationalism. One can only imagine how delighted Corbyn was to have Trump call him a “somewhat negative force.”

This state visit has been a pleasant distraction from the upcoming mayhem the UK is about to charge headfirst into. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that Trump’s whirlwind trip has done little more than shake up an already chaotic political landscape.

Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage has been seen entering Winfield House in Regent’s Park, the US ambassador’s residence in London, where the Trumps are staying during their visit.

A CNN crew saw the Brexit Party leader being driven in to the residence.

There had been speculation about whether Trump would meet Farage during his stay in the UK. The President suggested last week that he might meet Farage, the Brexit Party leader, who he called a “good guy.”

The pair could have an interesting conversation: Farage has been a stident critic of Theresa May, who Trump just left a press conference with.

Throughout their joint press conference in London, Trump was effusive in his praise for Theresa May, particularly in relation to her handling of Brexit. It was a marked change in tone from the last time the US President was in the UK, when he had nothing but criticism for the way negotiations were going.

This time, just as May is about to step down as Prime Minister, Trump praised her efforts to take Britain out of the European Union, saying she had “teed up” a Brexit deal for her successor.

The outgoing British Prime Minister joked that Trump, on his last visit, had proposed suing the EU. May said she had chosen to negotiate.

“I would have sued and settled, maybe, but you never know,” Trump replied. And in a startling comment for a president who regards himself as a master dealmaker, he added: “She’s probably a better negotiator than I am.”

Trump suggested that history would judge May kindly on her handling of Brexit.

Trump also repeated his false claim that he predicted Britain voting for Brexit the day before it happened. “I really predicted what was going to happen, some of you remember that prediction, it was a strong prediction, made at a certain location at a development we were opening the day before it happened,” he said.

In fact, Trump spoke about Brexit at his Turnberry golf course about Brexit the day after the Brexit vote.

President Trump suggested that American participation in Britain’s National Health Service should be on the table when the two nations negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal.

That will concern anti-Brexit campaigners, who have long warned that relying on a post-Brexit deal would open up the UK’s public health system to private US healthcare companies. It’s a hot-button issue in the UK, where any sense that the NHS could be “privatized” or otherwise opened up to profit is universally seen as a vote-loser.

In response to Trump’s comment, May added: “But the point in making trade deals is, of course, that both sides negotiate and come to an agreement about what should or should not be in that trade deal for the future.”

She did not take the opportunity to state a position on whether the health service would be part of that deal.

Trump’s suggestion didn’t go down well with the UK’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is also running to replace May as prime minister. Hancock tweeted that the NHS will “never” be on the table in trade talks on his watch.

Donald Trump said he turned down a meeting with the leader of the UK’s opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as a “negative force.”

“I don’t know Jeremy Corbyn, never met him, never spoke to him. He wanted to meet today or tomorrow and I decided that I would not do that,” Trump said at his joint press conference with Prime Minister May.

Moments before the US President started speaking, Corbyn was addressing an anti-Trump protest nearby.

Corbyn refused to attend Trump’s state banquet on Monday, and has been a longtime critic of the President.

Commenting on Trump’s attack on London mayor Sadiq Khan, Corbyn told the rally: “I am very disappointed, particularly today on the wonderful festival of Eid, that our mayor of London Sadiq Khan has been attacked in the way that he has … I am proud that our city has a Muslim mayor.”

President Trump said he’s seen only a “very, very small group” of protesters during his visit to the UK, despite large crowds gathering to rally against his visit.

He continued: “I didn’t see the protesters until just a little while ago, and it was a very, very small group of people put in for political reasons, so it was fake news.”

Many of the protesters have gathered at London’s Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, where a “Trump Baby” blimp was inflated.

Here’s a look at the protests unfolding today:

Boris Johnson and President Trump in 2017

President Trump said former UK foreign secretary?Boris Johnson and current UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt would both make good British prime ministers.?

“I know Boris, I?like him, I’ve liked him for a long time,” Trump said standing alongside the outgoing UK leader Theresa May.

“I think he would do a very good job,” Trump went on, adding of Hunt: “I know Jeremy, I?think he would do a very good job.”

Trump said he didn’t know another contender, Michael Gove, but was assured that he, too, would suffice as prime minister.

As for May, he acknowledged she rejected his advice to sue to EU. But he said that may not have been a mistake.

“She’s probably a better negotiator than I am,” Trump said.

President Trump, asked about his threatened tariffs on Mexico, said he believes the tariffs will go into effect as he scheduled. (They’re due to begin on June 10.)

Trump has said he’s implementing the tariffs because Mexico hasn’t acted on immigration.

“Mexico?shouldn’t allow millions of?people to try to enter our?country, and they could stop it?very quickly,” Trump said. “I think they will.?If they won’t, we’re going to put?tariffs?on.?Every month those?tariffs?go?from 5% to 10% to 15% to 20 and?then to 25%.”

Trump also said if Republicans worked to block the tariffs, they would be mistaken.

?“I?don’t think they will do that. If they do, it’s foolish,” he said.

?“I?think it’s more likely that the tariffs go on and we will probably be talking during the time that the tariffs are on, and they are going to be paid,” Trump said.?

Britain’s exit from the European Union will happen and should happen, President Trump says.

Praising his British counterpart Theresa May as doing a good job in handling Brexit, he said the planned divorce would be good for the United Kingdom.

“It wants to have its own borders. It wants to run its own affairs. This is a very, very special place and i think it deserves a special place,” Trump said at a joint news conference.

The United States and the United Kingdom have reached an agreement on Huawei, President Trump says.

“We’ll be able to work out differences,” Trump said.

The US has worked to prevent the Chinese telecom giant from developing 5G networks in Europe and elsewhere. US officials have threatened to curb intelligence sharing in countries where the company is allowed to operate.

?“We have an incredible intelligence relationship,” Trump said.

President Trump said London Mayor Sadiq Khan is a “negative force” who has done a “poor job” running the city.

Trump was actually asked his thoughts about the leader of the UK’s opposition party, Jeremy Corbyn. But after Trump started to answer, the same reporter asked British Prime Minister Theresa May about Khan — and Trump began to talk about the London mayor.

He continued: “And I don’t think he should be?criticizing a representative of?the United States that can do so?much good for the United?Kingdom.” Trump then added: “He should be positive, not?negative.?He’s a negative force, not a?positive force.”

Some context: Trump and Khan have long exchanged insults. Most recently, Khan compared Trump to a young child after the President?called him a “stone-cold loser.”

President Trump said the US will establish a “phenomenal trade deal” with the UK after it leaves the European Union.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has failed to secure Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Last month, she announced her resignation over that. She’s due to step down on Friday.

Prime Minister Theresa May started her remarks at today’s news conference by touting her relationship with President Trump?— and pointing out that sometimes they disagree.

She thanked Trump and the US for expelling Russians after the nerve attack in the UK and noted that the US and the UK have always “stood together?and acted together.”

She continued:

President Trump said the US and UK “share many goals and priorities around the world.”

President Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May are holding a joint news conference in London.

You can watch it live in the player at the top of this story (refresh the page if you don’t see it).

Trump phoned former London mayor Boris Johnson on Tuesday and offered him a one-to-one meeting while the President is in London, a British official tells CNN.

Johnson thanked Trump for the invitation, but declined the meeting, to focus on a political event that was happening at the same time, the official said. The President understood.?

The?20-minute phone call between the men was friendly and productive, the official said.

Johnson, who is running to replace Theresa May as prime minister, said he was looking forward to catching up with Trump at a later date, the official said.

Trump had floated the idea of meeting with Johnson and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage last week, but that suggestion won’t have gone down well in Downing Street – both men have been critical of May’s Brexit strategy.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, compared Donald Trump to a young child after the US President?called him a “stone-cold loser.”

Khan told CNN he was “not offended in the slightest” by the remarks, delivered as Trump began his state visit to the UK on Monday, but added that that US was expected to behave more like a role model.

Khan also spoke about anti-Trump protests, which have taken place throughout London on Tuesday as the President met with Prime Minister Theresa May.

“They’ve got a right to protest, as long as its peaceful,” Khan said. “They’ll be articulating the concerns we have about the values we both hold dear.”

Speaking about a trade deal with the US, which the British government is desperate to secure ahead of Brexit, Khan warned against false hopes.

“Putting all your eggs in the Donald Trump basket is unwise,” he said. “His mood changes from hour to hour.”

But the mayor also struck more emollient tone, saying that people in the UK “cherish the special relationship” with the US, “love America and also respect American politicians.”

Read more from CNN’s interview with Sadiq Khan here.

President Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May will soon hold a news conference following a morning of meetings.

Here are some questions reporters could ask President Trump:

Larry the cat, Downing Street's chief mouser, looks on as US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive at 10 Downing Street on June 4, greeted by Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May.

As Donald Trump and Theresa May sit down for talks inside Downing Street, another geopolitical standoff appears to be taking place outside – and it could get, well, hairy…

Larry the Cat, Downing Street’s chief mouser, has slipped past the Secret Service to take up a position underneath the President’s heavily-armored limousine, known as “The Beast,” much to the amusement of the world’s media gathered on his doorstep

Trump isn’t the first world leader to receive a welcome from Larry; Downing Street’s chief mouser has lived in Number 10 for years, appearing generally unfazed by the political chaos swirling around him.

As a “civil servant,” rather than a political appointee, he will remain in post once Theresa May has departed this summer.

And with no cat flap in the famous door to Number 10, police guarding the residence are forced to let Larry in and out at his command – meaning he carries a healthy amount of power in Whitehall.

Larry even has a Twitter fan account with more than 250,000 followers – which was quick to comment on the situation outside Downing Street on Tuesday.

The Trumps broke with tradition by refusing to keep a pet in the White House – perhaps a friendly meeting with Larry as they leave could give them pause (or should that be paws?) for thought.

Melania Trump arrives at 10 Downing Street in London.

First lady Melania Trump traveled with the President to 10 Downing Street today.

While President Trump meets with Prime Minister Theresa May, the first lady participated in a tea and a tour with Mr. May.

What’s next on the schedule: Melania Trump will attend a garden party inside the 10 Downing Rose Garden. She’ll also attend the press conference where President Trump and Prime Minister May will take reporters’ questions.

After that, she will visit the Churchill War Rooms with the President, Prime Minister May & Mr. May.?

For her day at 10 Downing, Melania Trump is wearing a Celine dress, according to East Wing spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham.

Demonstrators have set off on a protest march through central London against US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK.

Crowds are streaming from Trafalgar Square towards the Houses of Parliament, where the “Trump Baby” blimp is slowly being deflated.

Placards reading “No to Racism: No to Trump” are being waved by several protesters, who are chanting “Donald Trump’s not welcome here.”

Several protesters are also waving EU flags, and making clear their opposition to Brexit and Trump – which they see as aligned political forces.

But the standout feature of the march is a 16-foot robot depiction of Trump, sitting on a golden toilet and tweeting, which is being pushed along the route by protesters.

As it moves, the robot repeats slogans including “I’m a very stable genius,” “no collusion,” and “you are fake news.”

“I wanted people here to know that people in America do not support Trump,” Don Lessem, the American creator of the spectacle, told CNN.

Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party will make a speech at the rally later. The party’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Emily Thornberry, earlier described Trump as a “bully” in an interview with CNN.

The Trump Baby blimp flew outside Parliament earlier.

President Trump and UK Prime Minister Theresa May are viewing several documents, including a copy of the Declaration of Independence, at 10 Downing Street

Another notable artifact they’ll see is a copy of the Atlantic Charter, a joint declaration signed by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and former President?Franklin D. Roosevelt that set Allied goals for a post-war world.

May is also expected to give Trump a copy of Churchill’s personal draft of that charter.

CNN’s Max Foster said there’s a lot of symbolism involved here: The Queen started that messaging last night in her state dinner speech, when she stressed the importance of “institutions that?emerged out of wartime to?promote global peace,” he said.

Here’s how Foster put it:

“Stick around, let’s do this deal,” Donald Trump told the departing British PM Theresa May at a breakfast roundtable this morning.

The only problem? Getting a UK-US deal done will be exceedingly difficult.?Once formal discussions on a?US-UK trade deal?can start, they’re likely to last years and could be doomed by a thorny set of political issues.

“Under the current state of play, there really isn’t much investment in this at all,” said Marc Busch, a professor of international business diplomacy at Georgetown University.

Some background: The European Union is Britain’s largest economic partner, accounting for 49.4% of its trade. The United States ranks second, with 14.7% of total UK trade in goods and services.

The White House said Monday that Trump is eager to make economic ties even stronger “through an ambitious new trade agreement.” Trump added Tuesday that the deal would be “substantial” and “very fair.”

Yet many of the demands made by the Trump administration, which has taken a confrontational approach to trade with both rivals and allies, appear to be non-starters in Britain.

Read more on the pitfalls facing a UK-US trade deal here.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the percentage of UK trade done with the United States and the European Union.

President Trump and outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May just arrived at 10 Downing Street in London. The two leaders will have talks before holding a joint news conference.

Officials have said the talks will include discussion of Iran, Chinese telecom giant Huawei, and trade. The meetings come days before May stands down as leader of the conservative party.

First Lady Melania Trump and May’s husband, Philip May, are there too. Philip May is hosting the first lady at a garden party, and he will also give her a tour of Downing Street and join her for tea.?

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo arrived ahead of the President.

A giant balloon depicting US President Donald Trump as an orange baby floats above anti-Trump demonstrators in Parliament Square, London, on June 4, 2019 -- the second day of Trump's three-day state visit to the UK.

Protesters are starting to gather in London at Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, where the “Trump Baby” blimp has been inflated.

“Yes it’s fun, but there’s a serious message behind this,” Shaista Aziz, one of the organizers from the Stop Trump Coalition, told CNN. “We strongly object to the US administration’s policies on climate change, on climate denial, on women’s reproductive rights, on racism, on white supremacy.”

Auriel Granville, 76, was mingling among the crowds dressed as the State of Liberty – or, as her sign read, the “Statue of Taking Liberties.” She told CNN she was there to voice her opposition to US President Donald Trump’s climate change denial.

Other activists have come dressed as gorillas, with signs reading that they “only eat chlorinated chicken” – a nod to concerns in Britain that a post-Brexit trade deal with the US would mean a decline in food standards for imported produce.

“Trump is a big follower of Brexit. Trump is very, very keen on Brexit for his means, and not for this country,” one protester from Devon, in southwest England, told CNN.

British artist Kaya Mar at Tuesday's protests.

Kaya Mar, a 64-year-old British artist, said he had been thinking of CNN’s Jim Acosta as he painted the artwork he brought to the protest – an image of Trump’s head on a snake, strangling a pen.

“Trump is strangling the free press. Strangling the European Union, is strangling the British way of life, is strangling parliament,” Mar said.

Protesters start to assemble in Trafalgar Square.

The foreign affairs spokeswoman for the UK’s opposition Labour Party has launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump.

Speaking to CNN, Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, listed a litany of complaints about Trump, including his policies on Iran, the Middle East and climate change.

And she said Trump was unfit to have been offered a state visit, with all the pageantry that it entails.

Thornberry noted that only three previous US Presidents had been welcomed on state visits.

“I don’t think that this President, given his behavior, deserves the honor,” she said, adding: “I do not see why our country should be a cute backdrop for President Trump’s re-election campaign.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who turned down an invitation to the state banquet for Trump at Buckingham Palace, will address protesters at a London rally against Trump’s visit later on Tuesday.

Corbyn has attended state banquets and events for other controversial world leaders who have faced questions over their human rights records, including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Asked if it was hypocritical of Corbyn to boycott Monday evening’s event, Thornberry said it was “a good question,” but that the Labour Party was taking a different approach towards Trump “because of our closeness to America.”

Trump signs the visitors book during the visit to Westminster Abbey with First Lady Melania Trump on Monday in London.

Melania Trump is joining the President at Downing Street today. She’ll attend a garden party there while the President has meetings.

Prime Minister Theresa May’s husband, Philip May, is hosting the first lady at the event, and he will also give her a tour of Downing Street and join her for tea.?

President Trump is starting his second day in the UK with a breakfast of business chiefs at the Tudor-era St. James’s Palace.

He’s there with outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. They’re also joined by the President’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump and a dozen or so executives from American and British firms.

At the start of the session, Trump said it had been an “honor” working with his British counterpart and joked she should delay her departure as prime minister until a new trade deal is struck.

President Trump’s first day in the UK was filled with pomp and ceremony as he met with the Queen for an official state visit.

If you didn’t catch all the action yesterday, here’s what you need to know about how the day unfolded:

We have lift off! The “Trump baby” blimp has been inflated and is floating in the London skies, next to the Houses of Parliament.

The balloon became one of the key images of British protests against Donald Trump during his working visit to the country last year.

Set up by a team of “Trump Babysitters,” it took about an hour to inflate.

“He’s hilarious, he’s so funny, we love him, but he makes a really serious point,” Zoe Gardner, one of the organizers of the blimp protest, told CNN.

“People in the country really, really dislike Trump, and really are outraged at his policies,” she said, citing the Trump administration’s stances on climate change, migrants, abortion and gay adoption rights. “That kind of thing really doesn’t sit well with the British public.”

The “Trump baby” will fly outside Parliament for a couple of hours, while protesters gather nearby in Trafalgar Square for a rally.

US President Donald Trump and Theresa May, the UK’s outgoing prime minister, have just opened their breakfast roundtable with business leaders. It’s the first political meeting on Trump’s itinerary for his UK visit.

May opened the discussion by mentioning her intention to secure a “bilateral trade agreement” with the US – something the British government is desperate to pin down as the UK heads towards its twice-delayed exit from the European Union.

“I think there are huge opportunities to seize,” May said.

Trump told May: “I very much appreciate the relationship we’ve had … It’s been outstanding – I guess some people know that, some people don’t, but you and I know it.”

“We are your largest partner, you’re our largest partner, a lot of people don’t know that. I was surprised, I made that statement yesterday and a lot of people said, ‘Gee, I didn’t know that,’ but that’s the way it is,” Trump said.

He added that there was an opportunity to “tremendously enlarge” the trading relationship between both countries. “I think we’ll have a very substantial trade deal.”

Trump then nodded to May’s impending exit – she’s resigning as leader of the Conservative Party on Friday.

“I just want to congratulate you on having done a fantastic job,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what your timing is, but stick around, lets do this deal,” he told her, to laughs around the table.

The press have now left the room, and the leaders have begun their talks.

Outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May will present Donald Trump with a copy of Winston Churchill’s personal draft of the Atlantic Charter when they meet today.

The 1941 document set out the Allied goals for a post-war world, written by Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It’s the second Churchill-themed gift Trump has received on his state visit; yesterday, the Queen gave him a first edition of one of Churchill’s books about the Second World War.

The monarch’s speech at Monday’s state banquet also nodded to post-war cooperation between the two nations, which is becoming something of a theme for the visit.

A Trump robot is set up in Trafalgar Square on Tuesday morning.

Anti-Trump activists will kick off a day of protests this morning, by flying the “Trump Baby” blimp outside the Houses of Parliament.

The day’s main rally will begin in Trafalgar Square at 11 a.m (6 a.m. ET), with protesters heading towards Downing Street to voice their displeasure at Trump’s welcome in the UK, though they will not be allowed to march along Whitehall past the entrance of Downing Street.

Aside from the blimp, the protest will also feature a 16-foot robot version of Trump sitting on the toilet and tweeting, which has already been wheeled into position.

Organizers hope the protests will rival last year’s demonstrations, when huge crowds of people took to the streets to protest against the President’s working visit.

Trump tweeted on Monday evening: “Tremendous crowds of well wishers and people that love our Country. Haven’t seen any protests yet, but I’m sure the Fake News will be working hard to find them.”

After a ceremonial welcome, a state banquet and a spot of tea with the royals on day one, the focus of Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK shifts to politics on day two.

The President will join outgoing UK Prime Minister Theresa May for a breakfast meeting alongside the Duke of York and senior UK and US business leaders at St. James’s Palace.

Then he’ll head to Downing Street for talks with May, followed by a live press conference.

This evening, the Trumps will host a reciprocal dinner for the royals at Winfield House, the US Ambassador’s London residence in Regent’s Park, where they are staying during their trip.

The couple will be hoping to avoid getting too close to anti-Trump protests, which will be taking place across London throughout the day.

Activists plan to hound the US President, following him as he moves from meeting to meeting. And yes, the Trump Baby blimp will be back…

The rest of tonight’s state dinner is closed to press, and the Trumps will retire for the evening once it concludes.

As a result, our live coverage will conclude for the evening.

We’ll be back early Tuesday morning ahead of President Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Theresa?May and business leaders. Soon after, he’ll head to Downing Street for an official bilateral meeting with May and other members of her team, followed by a press conference.

We’ll air that live.

For a recap of today’s events, see our story: Trump’s UK visit gets off to a booming start with guns, guards and insults.

Some seating pairings of note:

Here’s a list of notable attendees:

President Trump hailed Queen Elizabeth II as a “great, great woman” during a toast from Buckingham Palace on Monday.

Hailing her work as a mechanic during World War II, Trump cast the monarch as a symbol of British strength and endurance.

“From the second world war to today, her majesty has stood as a constant symbol of these priceless traditions,” Trump said at the start of a state banquet. “She has embodied the spirit of dignity, duty, and patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart.”

Watch the toast:

Melania Trump is wearing a Dior Haute Couture ivory silk crepe gown with silk tulle detail, per Stephanie Grisham, spokeswoman for the East Wing.

Her hair is pulled back.

White, it should be noted, seemed to be the theme of the night. Her Majesty the Queen; Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge are all dressed in white for the state dinner.

Watch more:

Queen Elizabeth welcomed President Trump and the first lady with a speech.

“Visits by American presidents always remind us of the close and long standing friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States,” the Queen said, adding she was “glad that we have another opportunity to demonstrate the immense importance that both our countries attach to our relationship.”

She spoke of the 75th anniversary?of D-Day, noting, “On that day and many occasions since, the armed forces of both our countries fought side by side to defend our cherished values of liberty and democracy.”

The Queen added that the anniversary “reminds us?of all that our countries have?achieved together.”

Citing Trump’s Scottish?ancestry, the Queen reminded the President that he too has a “particular connection to this country.”

“Mr. President, as we look to the future, I’m confident that our common values and shared interests will continue to unite us. Tonight, we celebrate an alliance that has helped to ensure the safety and prosperity of both our peoples for decades, and which I believe will endure for many years to come,” she said.

Watch more:

US President Trump will be served three course meal at the State banquet at Buckingham Palace this evening, including fresh fruit, coffee and petit fours according to the Press Association.

?Here’s the full run down of the menu:

And these are the wines:

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump just arrived at the State Dinner at Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles walked in with the two leaders.

The Marine One helicopter carrying President Trump and first lady Melania Trump flies over Buckingham Palace as it prepares to land ahead of a State Banquet.

Marine One, carrying President Trump and first lady Melania Trump, flew past a crowd of protestors on its way to tonight’s state dinner. Their signs read, “Stop Trump’s nuclear arms race,” “No to Trump, no to war,” and “campaign for nuclear disarmament.”

While Buckingham Palace, where the dinner will be, and Winfield House, where the Trumps are staying, are only 3 miles apart, the first couple has been using the helicopter between the buildings and avoiding central London streets.

Trump has tweeted that he hasn’t seen any protests in London so far:

Marine One has landed at Buckingham Palace for the State Banquet with Queen Elizabeth and the royal family.

First the President and first lady will participate in a presentation of guests with Her Majesty before the banquet officially begins at 3:45 pm ET.

The royal family posted a sneak peak of the banquet table:

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 03: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner look on as US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior during their visit to Westminster Abbey on June 03, 2019 in London, England.

In addition to her attendance at today’s ceremonial events at Buckingham Palace, Ivanka Trump will be participating in the business roundtable and bilateral with Prime Minister Theresa May alongside her father on Tuesday, a White House official tells CNN.

Trump, a senior adviser to the President, and her husband, Jared Kushner, are both members of the official US delegation. She’s expected to discuss workforce development at the business roundtable.

Her siblings Don Jr., Eric, and Tiffany Trump, are also in London and are expected to attend the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace this evening.

The President’s eldest daughter has previously met with May and has worked with her on global anti-human trafficking efforts. Later this week, she will travel to The Netherlands to deliver a keynote speech at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019, part of WGDP initiative.

President Trump tweeted that the “London part of trip is going really well” and the royal family has been “fantastic.”

He said that he’s seen no protests yet but is “sure the Fake News will be working hard to find them.”

Trump’s motorcade passed through empty streets that were cleared by security. Protests in London have, in fact, begun.

A general view shows guests seated as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II makes a toast during a State Banquet in honor of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands in 2018.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will sit down for a lavish?state banquet?in Buckingham Palace on Monday evening.

Here’s what we know so far:

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive by helicopter at Buckingham Palace this morning

After a morning of royal engagements, President Trump and the first lady are returning to Winfield House for a few hours ahead of tonight’s state banquet.

While Buckingham Palace and Winfield House are only 3 miles apart, Trump is taking his helicopter between the buildings and avoiding central London streets.

The Clarence House’s Twitter account just shared this photo showing President Trump and the first lady alongside the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

There are no firm plans right now for a meeting between President Trump and Boris Johnson, according to a US official.

Trump?said before coming to London that he may meet with Johnson, who is in the running to succeed Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party. He also said he’d be open to meeting Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage.

(Remember: Whoever wins leadership of the Conservative Party will automatically become Prime Minister, taking center stage in the chaotic Brexit process that has plunged Britain into one of its worst postwar political crises.)

But as of midday Monday, there aren’t firm plans in place for such an encounter. The official said that could change if Trump asks aides to arrange a meeting over the coming days.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump just arrived at Clarence House. They are scheduled to have?tea?with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall there.

Later tonight, the Trumps will attend a lavish state banquet at Buckingham Palace.

Watch:

The Trumps have each signed the guest book at Westminster Abbey, after receiving a lengthy and detailed tour of the 750-year-old building.

The President looked solemn as he walked around the abbey, with the Duke of York, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner in tow. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway were also on the tour.

Three days before the 75th anniversary of D-Day, a veteran of the Normandy landings was present at Buckingham Palace to watch the presidential motorcade drive by.

Charles L Annibale, who served in the US Navy, praised Trump for taking a hard line in demanding financial contributions from other NATO member states.

“The President will come here and papers won’t give him any credit, but he has done an awful lot for the US – but also for your country, and for NATO,” he said.

Annibale said the relationship between the US and the UK remained important.

“It’s wonderful the two countries speak English and they get along, even if their politics might differ, it’s still on a friendly basis,” he said.

Annibale, 93, said he was planning to head to France for the 75th anniversary commemorations of D-Day later this week: “They tell me I’m going to receive a medal. I think I got enough medals.”

Recalling D-Day, he told CNN: “There were about 7,000 ships as far as they eye could see … [It was] chaos … you couldn’t see the beaches there was so much equipment and people. I had to go back four years ago and I saw the beaches and they were beautiful … But I didn’t see that on D-Day. I didn’t see the beach.”

President Trump and the first lady are now getting a tour of Westminster.

Earlier today, Trump and the first lady walked into the church?where they were greeted by church officials before stopping in prayer and laying the wreath.?

At the end of prayers, a boy’s children’s?choir sang a hymn. The Trumps then greeted the boys before leaving the church.?

Next on the schedule: After they finish their tour, the Trumps will?head to Clarence House, where they will have tea with Prince Charles and Camilla.??

Only minutes into his trip to the UK, President Trump had already lobbed a number of political grenades into a nation not exactly settled at the moment.

As Air Force One touched down, Trump opened his state visit by calling popular London Mayor Sadiq Khan a “stone cold loser.” This will do nothing for his popularity among Brits, which – under ordinary circumstances – shouldn’t matter to a visiting US President.

But these are not ordinary circumstances, and Trump is not an ordinary President.

The UK is currently engulfed in its most significant political crisis since World War II. Theresa May is standing down as Prime Minister after almost three years of failing to deliver Brexit.

Over the weekend, Donald Trump all but endorsed the man most likely to replace her, former Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson.

“I think Boris would do a very good job,” the President told The Sun newspaper. “I think he would be excellent.”

Johnson formally launched his leadership campaign earlier today. Fully aware of how unpopular Trump is with the very moderates whose backing Johnson needs if he is to achieve his dream, the former Foreign Secretary will probably not have welcomed the support of a man he is already unflatteringly compared to.

Trump also, in an apparent show of support for the UK over Brexit, said that if the UK doesn’t get the deal it wants the EU, then it should walk away from the Brexit talks, taking with it the $50bn divorce bill already agreed with Europe.

His logic is that the EU will come begging when it realizes that it will miss out on all this money, but Trump has once again misunderstood the true power dynamic here.

While $50bn is a huge sum of money, it pales in comparison to the economic effect a worst-case-scenario Brexit would have on the UK.

There are fights to be had with the EU, but this probably isn’t one of them.

Finally, he suggested that his “friend” Nigel Farage, the hard Brexiteer and semi-permanent thorn in the government’s side, should be sent to Brussels to negotiate with the EU.

This would be the quickest way to collapse negotiations.

Believe it or not, the EU officials liked May and were impressed with how hard she squeezed the EU for her Brexit deal. They would be very unimpressed with a man who they believe has made a career out of lying about the EU being given a top diplomatic job and talks would likely stop immediately.

The sad reality of Trump’s intervention is that as the UK tries to find its feet in the world, the hand of friendship from the US President should be reassuring. Unfortunately, that hand is attached to the arm of Donald Trump.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are at Westminster Abbey.

Alongside Andrew, Duke Of York, they’ll lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior and take a tour of the World Heritage site.

Later — as?exclusively reported by CNN earlier this week?— the Trumps will join Charles and Camilla for tea at their residence at Clarence House.

Queen Elizabeth presented both President Trump and Melania Trump with gifts.

The first lady was given a “specially commissioned silver box” with a “handcrafted enamel lid,” according to the Palace.??

The box was designed to match the ceiling of Buckingham Palace’s music room. The palace said it has a “royal blue centre over basses-taille circular rose, thistle and shamrocks as seen in details of the (Buckingham Palace) Music Room ceiling pattern; raised gold royal cypher details. Guilloche pattern underneath soft opalescent crème enamel to reflect the colours of the room.”

It is customary for the Queen to present visiting heads of state on official visits with gifts.

Queen Elizabeth is showing President Trump and first lady Melania Trump the royal gift collection, which is a room filled with artifacts.

CNN’s Max Foster said they’re specifically viewing artifacts relating to the US.

“He’ll be shown the Declaration?of Independence that comes out?of the British archive and some?engraved portraits as well of?George Washington, for example,” Foster said.

Another section he’ll be shown is full of relics from Scotland. President Trump has Scottish ancestry.

The Queen gave Donald Trump an abridged first edition of Winston Churchill’s book, “The Second World War.”

The book, printed in 1959, is presented in a crimson and gold-tooled cover. It features a gold royal cypher, silk endpapers and hand-sewn headbands in the colors of the US flag.

Churchill wrote a series of books on World War II, published between 1948 and 1953, which were written with the help of his own notes and diaries compiled during the conflict. Trump is known to be an admirer of the former prime minister.

The Queen also gave Trump a three-piece pen set, comprising a fountain pen, rollerball pen and ball point pen with a royal cypher, in a presentation box.

Melania Trump, meanwhile, received a specially-commissioned silver box with a handcrafted enamel lid. The box features rose, thistle and shamrock images, as seen in the ceiling pattern in Buckingham Palace’s music room.

The state banquet laid on for the Trumps on Monday evening is no small affair.

When America’s first couple sit down to the lavish?dinner in Buckingham Palace, they will be treated to an exquisite menu that was six months in the planning, and a table that took royal staff three days to set.

Around 170 guests are expected at the dinner, personally overseen by?Queen Elizabeth II, in what will be a highlight of US President Donald Trump’s first state visit to Great Britain.

The menu – which is yet to be revealed – will be served on historic dinner sets with six drinking glasses, for water, a champagne toast, red and white wines, a dessert wine and port, according to the UK’s Press Association.

The table arrangement is a painstakingly precise process. Each place is set exactly 18 inches (45 centimeters) apart and every chair is an equal distance from the table.

Around this will be 19 serving stations – staffed by a page, a footman, an under butler and a wine butler – who will coordinate the delivery of plates, dishes and wine.

Beneath glittering chandeliers, a string orchestra will play throughout the evening. But guests will need to keep an eye out for 12 pipers entering the room – an unusual tradition started by Queen Victoria – the signal that the banquet is over.

President Trump is inside Buckingham Palace having lunch with the royals — including Prince Harry.

The pair could have an interesting conversation, the political editor of The Sun newspaper, Tom Newton Dunn, told CNN.

Some background here: Trump recently made comments about Harry’s wife, Meghan during an interview with Newton Dunn in the lead-up to his trip. He’s also made lewd comments about his late mother, Princess Diana, shortly after her death in 1997.

“Harry might just take the opportunity to take his revenge and have it out with the President,” Dunn told CNN’s Hala Gorani.

But, he added, “I suspect he won’t,” noting that the royals are used to keeping their feelings to themselves.

One person who won’t be meeting Trump during the visit is London mayor Sadiq Khan, whom Trump insulted moments before landing in the UK. But those insults “work quite well” for Khan, Newton Dunn said. “It bigs him up as the great enemy of Donald Trump … his supporters will like him even more for that,” he said.

Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, White House adviser Jared Kushner, watched from a balcony at Buckingham Palace as the US President and Prince Charles surveyed the troops in the palace garden.

Ivanka arrived in London ahead of her father, posting a picture taken outside the city’s Victoria & Albert Museum on Instagram on Sunday.

A banner unveiled on Vauxhall Bridge in London on Monday.

In addition to the pomp and pageantry, President Trump is also expected to be be greeted by thousands of protesters during his state visit to the UK.

A rally will take place in London on Tuesday, timed to coincide with Trump’s meetings at Downing Street. Activists plan to “follow” Trump from Trafalgar Square towards Downing Street, or any other locations he visits.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has encouraged people to attend the demonstrations and voice their opposition to Trump’s views, saying on Twitter that the protests are “an opportunity to stand in solidarity with those he’s attacked.”

“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,” the Stop Trump Coalition, which is organizing Tuesday’s protest, said.

During Trump’s visit to the UK last year, mass protests took place in the UK’s capital and across the country.

Since this trip is occurring during the week, rather than at a weekend, turnout numbers may be lower this time, but one defining feature of those protests will be back: the Trump Baby blimp.

The 20-foot-tall balloon depicting the President as a wailing baby in a nappy will fly over London again during the march.

“Trump Baby destroys his fantasy about how the world sees him,” one of its creators, Leo Murray, told CNN in April.

Donald Trump joined Prince Charles to review a group of bearskin-hatted guardsmen in Buckingham Palace’s gardens during his ceremonial welcome to London.

The US President stopped to chat with several of the soldiers at length. The guard of honor was formed by members of the Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards.

The Queen’s Guards have been charged with protecting official royal residences since the 17th century.

Before stepping into the garden, the Trumps and the royals spent time in the Bow Room in Buckingham Palace; the Queen introduced senior members of her household to the President and First Lady, and Trump did the same with senior members of his entourage.

Melania Trump today is wearing a custom white crepe dress with navy details by Italian fashion house, Dolce & Gabbana.?

The hat is a design from her personal designer/wardrobe adviser, Hervé Pierre, who also designed the white hat she wore last year during the State Visit of the Macrons to the White House.?

Here’s a copy of Pierre’s hat sketch:

About diplomacy and fashion: Diplomacy can sometimes come in the fashions worn by a first lady on a foreign trip, something Melania Trump has learned from previous visits abroad. In France, for example, she has worn the iconic French fashion house Christian Dior. The last times she visited London, she opted for a dress for an event that was made by Britain’s Stella McCartney.

Sometimes the label matches the country in that sense, but sometimes, for Trump, it does not. On her recent trip to Japan, she donned a $3,500 jumpsuit by Italian fashion house Loro Piana.

President Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Queen Elizabeth are watching as British guards perform a ceremonial welcome for the President.

The US and UK national anthems are being played, and soon President Trump will be invited?to inspect the guard, CNN’s Max Foster explained.

Queen Elizabeth II just greeted President Trump at Buckingham Palace for his first official engagement of a two-day state visit to the United Kingdom.

Trump was escorted by Prince Charles?to the palace’s West Terrace as guns were fired in nearby Green Park.

The President happily greeted the smiling monarch. Trump and the first lady were then escorted inside the palace, where they will attend a lunch with the Queen.

President Trump and the first lady have arrived at Buckingham Palace to officially launch their state visit to the United Kingdom.

The couple flew aboard the Marine One helicopter to the palace from the US ambassador’s residence, where Trump spent the morning issuing tweets about US-China trade and CNN.

What happens now: The Queen will welcome the first couple at the palace gardens as a guard of honor marches past and gun salutes are fired in nearby Green Park and from the Tower.

After that, Trump will then sit for lunch with the Queen. She’ll take him on a tour of the royal collection, where artifacts of significance to America will be on display.

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrive at Stansted Airport on Monday in London, England.

President Trump will soon arrive at Buckingham Palace to begin his state visit with Queen Elizabeth.

Here’s how the day will unfold:

Donald Trump and the First Lady will be met at Buckingham Palace shortly by the Queen, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

They’ll have lunch with the Queen, which Prince Harry will also join them for.

Harry’s wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, will not be present – since she’s on maternity leave. In the lead-up to his trip, Trump called Meghan “nasty,” before falsely denying that he had done so.

After lunch, the Trumps will head to Westminster Abbey with Andrew, Duke Of York, where they will lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior.

After that, they will rejoin Charles and Camilla for tea in Clarence House. The conversation between Charles, a lifelong conservationist, and Trump, a climate change denier, could be an interesting one.

It appears Donald Trump has been following CNN’s coverage of his own state visit since arriving in London.

“Just arrived in the United Kingdom. The only problem is that @CNN is the primary source of news available from the U.S. After watching it for a short while, I turned it off. All negative & so much Fake News, very bad for U.S. Big ratings drop. Why doesn’t owner @ATT do something?” Trump tweeted, after arriving at Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence, where he is staying during his trip.

Trump has frequently attacked CNN during his presidency. On Sunday, he called CNN “fake news” for reporting that he had called Meghan, Duchess of Sussex “nasty” – despite the existence of a recording of the statement.

A few minutes later, Trump added a second tweet:

Monday’s itinerary is filled with pomp and circumstance, but when the focus of Trump’s state visit shifts towards politics on Tuesday, Downing Street will be keen to secure assurances over a post-Brexit trade deal with the US.

The White House reiterated their position on Brexit on Monday, saying in a statement that “President Trump seeks to strengthen our economic ties with the United Kingdom through an ambitious new trade agreement.”

The statement adds that Trump “supports Brexit being accomplished in a way that will not affect global economic and financial stability while also securing independence to the United Kingdom.”

Trump told the Sunday Times over the weekend that Britain should “walk away” from?Brexit talks if the European Union does not give it what it wants – though economists have warned of the impact of the UK leaving without a deal.

The President also repeated his suggestion –?previously made to Prime Minister Theresa May?– that the UK should sue the EU. When asked how this would work, Trump said he would have put “on the table” the “mistakes made by the EU that cost the UK a lot of money and a lot of harm.”

Nigel Farage.

The Prime Minister’s office is trying to stop a meeting between the US President and leading Brexit supporters while Trump is in London, a source close to Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has told CNN.?

According to the source, Farage, Arron Banks and Andrew Wigmore, who describe themselves as “old friends” of Trump, are hoping to meet?the US President over the next few days, possibly on Tuesday.

The source said Trump could meet the group after his joint press conference with Theresa May on Tuesday, during the President’s “executive time.”

“That’s the realistic window if – and it’s still a big if – we get to see him,” the source said, adding that no meeting is confirmed.?

“Yes, it’s very true that Number 10 trying to stop Nigel and us,” the source said, adding that Trump would ignore such attempts.

In response, a Downing Street spokesman told CNN: “Who the President meets during his visit is of course a matter for him.”

Trump has previously suggested he may meet Farage and Conservative leadership hopeful Boris Johnson during his visit.

But that idea is also likely to be unpopular with May. Both figures have been heavily critical of her Brexit approach throughout her tenure as prime minister, and the success of Farage’s Brexit Party helped deliver the Conservatives a woeful vote share in last month’s European elections.

Donald Trump’s comments about London mayor Sadiq Khan, tweeted just minutes before he landed in the UK, have been criticized by a host of lawmakers from Britain’s opposition Labour Party.

“So appalled Theresa May has given this man a red carpeted platform to do this,” Labour MP Yvette Cooper wrote on Twitter. “Doesn’t help Britain to be lavishing pomp on a President so determined to be divisive, childish & destructive.”

The party’s shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, added that Trump’s insults were “ridiculous.”

Stephen Doughty added that “the sexist, racist, liar” Trump is “unfit for office,” and called his arrival “a day of humiliation for Britain.”

And David Lammy, a longtime critic of Trump, asked: “Wonder why you have a problem with London’s first ever Muslim mayor?” After Trump mocked Khan for his height, Lammy added that he “stands taller than you ever will.”

The Lofgran and Weed families outside Buckingham Palace.

Crowds are beginning to gather outside Buckingham Palace ahead of US President Donald Trump’s arrival to meet the Queen.

For two American families, Trump’s UK trip came as a surprise. “We were on holiday and just read he was coming, and thought, ‘this is going to be interesting!’” Andrea Lofgran, from Arizona, told CNN.

“When we came around the corner and saw the American flag and the Union Jacks together coming down the Mall it sent chills up and down. It was really special,” added Lofgran, who is visiting London with her daughter Lauren, nine, and their neighbors Dave and Julia Weed.

“It’s pretty impressive if you think of the Queen and how many presidents she has met. That’s what blows me away,” she said.

The Queen has met every US president during her reign, with the exception of Lyndon Johnson. Her first presidential meeting was with Harry Truman in 1951, a year before she ascended to the throne.

“I’m excited to see Marine One and the helicopters,” added Lauren.

Joseph Afrane, 55, from London, is used to setting up camp outside Buckingham Palace. The royal fan was in place bright and early. – wearing a specially-made suit – as he has been several times for big royal occasions.

“If Her Majesty is holding a very important national event, I will come down as early as half past seven,” he told CNN.

Afrane said he was “very, very excited” about the US President’s state visit.

Joseph Afrane in his special suit.

The Trumps have disembarked Marine One at Winfield House, the US Ambassador’s London residence, where they will spend the next couple of hours before heading to Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen and other royals.

Moments after he greeted Donald Trump on the tarmac at Stansted Airport, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt told CNN the UK disagrees with the US President on several issues.

Hunt told CNN’s Matthew Chance it is “not a surprise we have areas where disagree,” adding: “We do not agree on several issues, including climate change, the Iranian nuclear deal, and we have disagreed in past on the NHS.”

“We think there is a climate emergency and the world needs to act in concert,” Hunt went on. Trump has denied the existence of climate change on several occasions.

Trump is a controversial leader but a friend of Britain, Hunt added, saying he was “honored” to have him in the UK.

And Hunt stopped short of criticizing Trump for his recent intervention into UK politics, in which he praised Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.

“President Trump is famous for saying what he thinks. What is not appropriate is to focus on our small differences,” Hunt said.

He added that, despite their differences, the British government agrees with Trump on other areas – citing the fight to defeat ISIS as an example.

Trump and Hunt meet at Stansted Airport

Shortly before landing, Donald Trump tweeted a typically aggressive broadside against London mayor Sadiq Khan – and it appears Khan was still on his mind as he stepped off the plane moments later.

Trump shared his “very strong views” about Khan with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt while the pair met on the tarmac, Hunt told the BBC.

“He mentioned to me some of his feelings about the Mayor of London, which I saw subsequently he just tweeted out as well,” Hunt said.

Asked to go into detail about what Trump had said, Hunt added: “He wasn’t exactly saying that he’s going to inviting Sadiq Khan for royal treatment at the White House anytime soon.”

“What he said to me was consistent with what was in his tweet, let’s put it like that,” Hunt said.

Trump had tweeted minutes before landing that Khan was a “stone cold loser,” before mocking Khan’s height and comparing him to New York’s mayor Bill de Blasio, who Trump called “very dumb and incompetent.”

Responding to Trump’s Twitter comments, a spokesperson for Khan said the President should not be hurling “childish insults” at the mayor: “This is much more serious than childish insults which should be beneath the President of the United States.”

“Sadiq is representing the progressive values of London and our country, warning that Donald Trump is the most egregious example of a growing far-right threat around the globe, which is putting at risk the basic values that have defined our liberal democracies for more than 70 years,” his spokesperson said, according to Britain’s Press Association news agency.

A fence erected around Winfield House in Regent's Park on Sunday.

The Trumps will spend the next few hours at Winfield House, the US Ambassador’s official residence in Regent’s Park, central London, where they will stay during their state visit.

The couple would normally stay at Buckingham Palace on a state visit, but renovations to the building mean the Queen is unable to put her guests up for the night.

Temporary fences have been built around the Ambassador’s residence in the public park ahead of the trip, and several media tents have been set up near by.

After settling in on Monday morning, Trump and his wife Melania will head to Buckingham Palace for a lunchtime reception.

The first day of the tour will be a royal affair throughout. The pair will have lunch with the Queen, tea with Prince Charles and enjoy a state banquet in the evening.

On Tuesday the trip will get more political, as Trump sits down with the outgoing UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, in Downing Street.

Donald Trump has emerged from Air Force One after his overnight flight into London.

He walked down the plane’s steps alongside first lady Melania Trump, before being greeted by Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, and Jeremy Hunt, the UK Foreign Secretary.

Trump, saluting as he walked, has now boarded a Marine One helicopter to travel to London.

Donald Trump has landed at Stansted Airport, just north of London, aboard Air Force One.

Minutes before he touched down, Trump tweeted out an attack against London mayor Sadiq Khan.

He’ll now be welcomed at the airport before heading into London to meet the Queen.

Minutes before landing at Stansted Airport just outside London, Donald Trump has attacked the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan – a prominent Trump critic – as a “loser.”

Trump said the mayor, with whom he has feuded on several occasions, has done a “terrible job.”

“Kahn (sic) reminds me very much of our very dumb and incompetent Mayor of NYC, de Blasio, who has also done a terrible job - only half his height,” Trump added.

On Sunday, Khan wrote an explosive opinion piece attacking the decision to allow Khan on a state visit.

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has attacked as “un-British” the decision to roll out the red carpet for Donald Trump’s UK visit.

Khan, who has clashed with Trump on a number of occasions, called the president “one of the most egregious examples of a growing global threat” in an explosive opinion piece in the Observer newspaper on Sunday.

“America is like a best friend, and with a best friend you have a responsibility to be direct and honest when you believe they are making a mistake,” Khan wrote, adding that Trump’s “divisive behaviour flies in the face of the ideals America was founded upon – equality, liberty and religious freedom.”

Khan and Trump have been critics of each other for some time, and their disagreements intensified after Trump attacked Khan in the aftermath of a terror attack on London in 2017.

“This is a man who tried to exploit Londoners’ fears following?a horrific terrorist attack on our city, amplified the tweets of a British far-right racist group, (and) denounced as fake news robust scientific evidence warning of the dangers of climate change,” Khan wrote in the piece.

“In years to come, I suspect this state visit will be one we look back on with profound regret and acknowledge that we were on the wrong side of history,” he concluded.

Donald Trump is yet to touch down in London for his state visit, but his daughter Ivanka appears to have made it across the pond already.

She posted an image on Instagram on Sunday afternoon outside the city’s Victoria and Albert Museum, one of the world’s largest arts and design museums.

Trump and May during his visit to the UK last year.

President?Donald Trump normally is a chaos maker when he travels abroad. But he will attempt to use?his pomp-laden state visit to Britain this week to wring strategic advantage out of another country’s already raging political meltdown.

Trump arrives in London Monday with the United Kingdom?threatening to tear itself apart amid its worst crisis since World War II over the divisive vote to leave the European Union.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May?is the lamest of lame ducks, and will just cling on long enough until Friday to call a Conservative Party election to find her replacement in 10 Downing Street.

The prospect of fracturing ties with Europe means the royal pageantry Britain will lay on for Trump is about more than hospitality. The “special relationship” is increasingly vital for the UK government.

The hope is that Trump, whose addiction to adulation means he’s susceptible to pageantry, will favor the land of his Scottish mother’s birth – when Britain seeks a free trade deal with the US if it finally works out how to leave the EU.

Trump may also be looking to forge a closer bond with the next prime minister than the cordial, yet occasionally awkward relationship he maintained with May.

Read more analysis from Stephen Collinson here

Trump and first lady Melania Trump are greeted by an honor guard of Royal Air Force personnel during their July 2018 visit to the UK

President Trump’s trip this week to the United Kingdom marks his first official state visit to the country.

The visit will involve the full trappings of a state occasion.

What about last summer? Trump’s last visit to the UK, in July 2018, was styled as a working visit. (It nevertheless prompted huge protests in central London.)

After he lands in the UK, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will be officially welcomed at Buckingham Palace in London by Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

Trump will receive a Ceremonial Welcome in the palace garden, and then inspect a guard of honor, made up of Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards, with Charles. Meanwhile, royal gun salutes will be fired in nearby Green Park, and at the Tower of London.

The Queen will then host a private lunch for her guests before inviting them to view a specially curated exhibition at the Picture Gallery. The display will be comprised of items from the Royal Collection of historical importance to the United States.

In the afternoon, the Trumps alongside Andrew, Duke Of York, will head to Westminster Abbey to lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior and take a tour of the World Heritage site.

Later, the Trumps will join Charles and Camilla for tea at their residence at Clarence House.

The first day will culminate in a lavish state banquet at Buckingham Palace.