US President to meet May, Queen and visit Churchill's birthplace

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July 6, 2018 4:15 PM

Despite a series of diplomatic spats with Washington, Britain is keen to strike a free trade deal with the United States once it leaves the European Union next year.

US President Donald Trump will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May and Queen Elizabeth II on a long-delayed trip to Britain next week that will also take him to Winston Churchills birthplace and Scotland, officials said on Friday.

"The prime minister has always said she wants to strike an ambitious trade deal with the US. Trade will be on the agenda," May's spokeswoman told a briefing.

"Trump's visit is an important moment to recognise our close relationship," the spokeswoman said.

Trump will arrive from the NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday and will attend a black-tie dinner at Blenheim Palace, a country house near Oxford where Britain's famous wartime leader was born in 1874.

The dinner, where Trump will be accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, will be preceded with a military ceremony and guests will include business leaders, Downing Street said in a statement.

The couple will then stay at Winfield House, the US ambassador's residence on the edge of Regent's Park in London.

Trump on Friday will visit an unnamed defence facility with May and the two will hold talks at Chequers, the 16th-century manor house outside London that serves as her official country retreat.

Asked whether Chequers had been chosen to avoid planned protests in London, the spokeswoman said this was not the case and the venue was better for "more informal meetings".

The talks will be followed by a press conference and Trump and his wife will then travel to Windsor Castle to meet Queen Elizabeth.

They will then travel to Scotland later on Friday and spend the weekend there before leaving on Sunday for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin the following day in Helsinki.

The couple are expected to stay at Trump's luxury golf resort at Turnberry, where he stayed in June 2016 on his first foreign trip after becoming the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

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