President Trump was expected to touch down at Stansted Airport outside London on Monday morning as his first official state visit to Britain kicks off. After a helicopter ride into the center of the British capital Mr. Trump and First Lady Melania will rest for a while before joining Queen Elizabeth II for lunch.
CBS News will have live, ongoing coverage of Mr. Trump’s state visit, during which he will also hold talks with Prime Minister Theresa May. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump will travel to Ireland to meet Prime Minister Leo Varadkar before attending events to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landing in northern France by Allied forces in World War II.
As CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata reported, thousands protested during Mr. Trump’s last visit to Britain, and similar demonstrations are widely expected this week.
“It’s not just the normal threat of some violence, and you’ve got the assassination risk; it’s also a threat and risk really around protests and the level of that protest,” Richard Walton, the former head of counter-terrorism at Scotland Yard, told CBS News about the major security operation rolled out for the U.S. leader’s visit.
Trump bashes London mayor
President Trump took to Twitter upon his arrival at Stansted Airport, outside London, even before he touched the tarmac to bash the British capital’s Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has criticized him in the past.
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Mr. Trump, with a slight nod at another controversy around his visit, said Khan, “who by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London, has been foolishly ‘nasty’ to the visiting President of the United States, by far the most important ally of the United Kingdom. He is a stone cold loser who should focus on crime in London.”
Mr. Trump was annoyed ahead of his first visit to Britain when Khan’s office issued a permit for protesters to fly a massive balloon, depicting the U.S. president as a diaper-clad angry baby. This week’s state visit is expected to see the “Trump Baby” balloon — if not more than one — fly again.
