Trump UK visit: Farage meets president as Tory leader hopefuls reject Trump’s demand NHS is opened to US firms
'Comprehensive' trade deal promised as US leader suggests American involvement in healthcare a possibility
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Donald Trump has insisted the NHS would be “on the table” in any post-Brexit trade talks. “When you’re dealing with trade everything is on the table. So NHS or anything else, a lot more than that,” the US president said at a press conference with Theresa May.
He earlier promised, not for the first time, a “very substantial” post-Brexit trade deal with the UK as he met Ms May on the second day of his state visit, following a lavish royal banquet at Buckingham Palace. The leaders also discussed the role of Huawei in the UK’s 5G network.
Meanwhile, Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has said he had a “good meeting” with the president at the US ambassador’s residence and that Mr Trump “really believes in Brexit”.
Mr Farage was photographed being driven into Winfield House on Tuesday afternoon.
He later tweeted: “Good meeting with President Trump - he really believes in Brexit and is loving his trip to London.”
Trump UK visit: Best placards at anti-Trump protests
Show all 17Mr Farage has campaigned for years to take Britain out of the European Union and is one of Trump’s most prominent British supporters. The president has called him a friend.
Mr Farage’s newly founded Brexit Party was the big winner in last month’s European Parliament elections in Britain, scooping up support from voters angry that the UK has not left the EU.
He has criticised the prime minister's divorce deal with the bloc and said Britain should leave the EU without an agreement.
Mr Trump praised Ms May’s handling of Brexit on Tuesday, saying she had gotten a good deal.
Additional reporting by AP. Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
Welcome to The Independent's live coverage of Donald Trump's state visit to the UK.
The US president will meet Theresa May today for talks at Downing Street.
The leaders are expected to discuss key issues including the role of Chinese company Huawei in building the UK's 5G infrastructure.
Officials in London are also braced for thousands of protesters to rally against the US president's presence.
The Queen appeared to issue a coded caution over Donald Trump's readiness to disrupt institutions like the UN on the first day of a state visit which began with a lavish royal welcome, writes Andrew Woodcock.
At a state banquet she hosted for the president in the Buckingham Palace ballroom, the monarch spoke of the “close and long-standing friendship” between the two allies.
However, in proposing a toast to her guest, she added: “After the shared sacrifices of the Second World War, Britain and the United States worked with other allies to build an assembly of international institutions to ensure that the horrors of conflict would never be repeated.
Ivanka Trump has posted several photographs of herself, her husband and her "crew" of siblings at yesterday's state dinner.
The first daughter also shared press photographs taken of her peering out of Buckingham Palace's windows on Monday afternoon.
Protesters described Donald Trump as “frightening and dangerous” as they gathered in London yesterday to mark the arrival of the US president for his state visit, ahead of a planned rally on Tuesday when thousands are expected to take part, writes Tom Batchelor.
Demonstrators opposed to Mr Trump’s visit said his invitation to the UK was “disgraceful” and warned attempts to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with him would backfire.
Others waited outside Buckingham Palace armed with pro-Trump placards, American flags and “Make America Great Again” caps.
Eric Trump also posted an image of himself at Buckingham Palace with his wife Lara.
The Queen and Theresa May appear to have plotted a one-two punch of reminders to Donald Trump of the importance of the US-UK alliance and of international ties.
The "America first" president is notoriously sceptical of transnational groups like Nato.
Last night the Queen reminded Mr Trump that nations had come together after the Second World War to work "together to safeguard a hard-won peace".
And on Tuesday Ms May is set to gift the Republican a framed, typescript draft of the Atlantic Charter, the declaration signed by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt in August 1941 setting out common goals for the world including freer trade, disarmament and the right to self-determination of all people.
The declaration helped lay the groundwork for the UN and the World Trade Organisation. The gift is a copy of Churchill's personal draft of the document, with his handwritten revisions in red pencil.
The now-infamous inflatable depicting Donald Trump as a screaming baby is set to fly outside Parliament today.
The 6m "blimp" is expected to make an appearance for two hours from 9am, before Mr Trump holds talks with Theresa May.
In fact, one of the balloon's operators explained why she was doing it in a piece for us.
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Tomorrow, as Donald Trump proceeds with his state visit, I’ll be part of a team of people babysitting our Trump Baby blimp as he soars through the skies of London, writes Anna Vickerstaff in our Voices opinion section.
Last year Trump Baby joined 250,000 people on the streets of London with a further 150,000 people around the UK to protest his visit. Upon seeing the balloon, Trump said “I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London”. That’s exactly the point.
We know Trump isn’t a joke – he is responsible for rampant xenophobia, sexism and transphobia and the creeping rise of far right politics. His climate denial and persistent facilitation of the fossil fuel industry is a death sentence for communities in the global south. But if flying a balloon caricature is what gets under his skin – then that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
Donald Trump had to be rescued from a tricky moment by his wife, Melania, when he failed to recognise a statue at Buckingham Palace that he had given the Queen last summer, writes Jane Dalton.
The US president was shown a pewter horse that he gave as a gift when they met in July last year, and was asked whether he recognised it. He replied “no”.
Melania came to his rescue, saying: “I think we gave that to the Queen.” He had given the thoroughbred statue in polished pewter on his visit to Windsor.
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