LONDON: After the royal hospitality and pageantry, US President Donald Trump's unprecedented second state visit to the UK takes a serious turn on Thursday when he is hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer for wide-ranging talks.
Starmer will greet Trump on the second day of the visit at his country residence, Chequers, with pressing issues such as trade, Ukraine and Gaza on the agenda.
The prime minister has positioned himself as a bridge between the unpredictable US leader and European allies, particularly on the war in Ukraine, in a bid to secure more commitments for Kyiv from Trump.
Starmer's warm tone with Trump — in stark contrast to his words while in opposition — has won some leniency in the president's trade war, with the two countries signing an "economic prosperity deal" at the White House in May.
Britain hopes to secure further concessions and is keen to see 25% duties on aluminum and steel reduced to zero, but Trump's non-committal comments suggest an agreement is not imminent.
"They'd like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we'll talk to them," Trump said before leaving for Britain.
However, Starmer received a boost when US private equity giant Blackstone said it planned to invest £90 billion ($123 billion) in UK projects over the next decade, after Microsoft unveiled a plan to spend $30 billion in the country.
In the other direction, British pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline announced that it will invest $30 billion in the United States over the next five years.
Epstein shadow
The talks could turn awkward on several fronts, with Starmer facing political troubles at home after sacking his UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, over a furor involving the diplomat's connections to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein has also haunted Trump over recent weeks, with further revelations about the pair's relationship in the 1990s emerging.
Police arrested four people after they projected images of Trump and Epstein onto Windsor Castle late Tuesday.
But it was all smiles for the US leader on Wednesday as he was lavished with the full pomp and circumstance of the British state.
King Charles III welcomed Trump to Windsor Castle with a royal spectacle featuring gun salutes, mounted horses and bagpipes.
The pair laughed and joked as Trump inspected troops at the castle west of London, in an elaborate welcome designed to play into the mercurial US leader's love of pageantry.
Around 120 horses and 1,300 members of the British military — some in red tunics and gold-plumed helmets — feted Trump during a ceremonial guard of honor that British officials called the largest for a state visit to Britain in living memory.
Trump was due to see an unprecedented joint flypast of US and UK jets, but bad weather saw the American planes pull out.
'Greatest honor'
The president and Charles wrapped up Wednesday with a white-tie state banquet, attended by 160 guests including senior royals, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Apple CEO Tim Cook and golfer Nick Faldo.
The menu included watercress panna cotta with parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad, chicken wrapped in courgettes and vanilla ice cream bombe with raspberry sorbet.
The playlist included Trump favorites such as Nessun Dorma from Puccini's opera Turandot and a James Bond medley.
Before the dinner, Trump told guests that the state visit was "truly one of the highest honors of my life," describing the UK and US as "two notes in one chord ... each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together."
In his speech, the king praised Trump's "personal commitment to finding solutions to some of the world's most intractable conflicts," while stressing the environmental obligations current leaders have to "our children, grandchildren, and those who come after them."
The 79-year-old Republican is being kept far away from the British public, among whom polls indicate Trump remains unpopular, with the entire trip happening behind closed doors.
An estimated 5,000 people marched through central London on Wednesday, waving Palestinian flags and displaying banners with slogans including "Migrants welcome, Trump not welcome."
"I'm just scared of the way the world's being taken over by really nasty men," Jo Williamson, a 58-year-old funeral director from Kent, southeast England, told AFP.
