Trump UK visit - LIVE: Theresa May calls for close trade ties with US as president warns Brexit plan would ‘kill’ deal
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Donald Trump has arrived in the UK to meet with Theresa May and the Queen on a four-day “working visit”. Air Force One touched down at Stansted Airport shortly before 2pm on Thursday and Mr Trump spent his first evening at a black tie event in Blenheim Palace.
The US president will largely avoid London during his time in the country as mass protests are expected against his “zero-tolerance” approach to immigration and divisive rhetoric.
Mr Trump has already ruffled feathers this week at a Nato summit in Brussels and is unlikely to escape further controversy while in Britain.
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And he is down! Television pictures show Air Force One is now taxiing on the ground at Stansted.
Donald and Melania Trump have descended Air Force One, where they were met by a welcoming party, and boarded a helicopter that will take them to Regent's Park in central London.
They greeted Jennifer Tolhurst, a representative for the Queen, Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, and Liam Fox the chief operating officer at Stanstead airport.
Melania and Donald Trump emerge from Air Force One (AP)
Donald Trump's son Eric has spoken about his father's love for the UK as he begins his first trip to the country as US president.
Mr Trump Jnr said the UK is a “big part” of his father's life.
The 34-year-old arrived in Scotland on a golfing trip on Thursday morning, with his father flying into the UK later in the day ahead of a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Queen.
The president is expected to head to Scotland on Friday night and spend the weekend at his Turnberry golf resort in South Ayrshire.
Mr Trump Jnr flew into Aberdeen Airport on a Trump plane.
Asked about the president's view on US-UK relations, he said: “He has worked here for so many years, he knows so many people. His mother - my grandmother - is from Scotland. We just love this country, we love the UK in general and it's a big part of our lives. It's a big part of his life, pre-politics, and that can only be a positive.”
Mr Trump Snr was controversially granted permission to build a golf course at Balmedie by the Scottish Government, despite protests from environmental campaigners concerned about the impact the development would have on a site of special scientific interest.
His son described the area as “one of the most magical places in the world, one of the most beautiful places in the world”.
PA
We are waiting for the Donald Trump and his envoy to arrive at the US embassy in Regent's Park
(Reuters)
Donald Trump has arrived at US ambassador Woody Johnson's residence in Regent's Park in central London. He is scheduled to spend several hours here before travelling to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.
Amnesty International have greeted the US president by unfurling a brightly-coloured banner on Vauxhall Bridge in London calling his presidency a "human rights nightmare".
The “Bring The Noise” march and rally, organised by the Women’s March London coalition, is today protesting what organisers called " the inhumane, divisive, misogynistic and discriminatory policies and rhetoric of the Trump administration".
Kate Allen, Amnesty International UK’s director, said: “In only 18 months, Mr Trump has presided over a nightmarish human rights roll-back - from locking up child migrants and withdrawing from global human rights bodies, to imposing a discriminatory travel ban and decimating global funding for women.”
Amnesty said the banner would be visible to officials working at the US Embassy.
PA
A giant inflatable “Trump baby” will not be allowed to fly over the US president's Turnberry golf course when he visits over the weekend, Police Scotland have said.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams said the move had been ruled out due to airspace restrictions in the area, but discussions were taking place about where the balloon can be flown instead.
Campaigners plan to transport the 20ft high caricature blimp north of the border after flying it over central London as Donald Trump begins his visit to the UK.
They had hoped to fly it over the South Ayrshire golf resort on Saturday to coincide with the president's visit there.
PA
Activists inflate a giant balloon depicting US President Donald Trump as an orange baby (AFP)
A police chief has apologised after it was revealed officers securing Donald Trump's visit to the UK were being forced to sleep in conditions described as an “absolute disgrace”.
Hundreds of officers were to stay in cramped lines of camp beds filling a vast gymnasium and sleeping mats on the floor of squash courts between long shifts policing the US president's trip.
Essex Police's Assistant Chief Constable Pippa Mills apologised for the conditions the force imposed on officers staying in the county, having come from across the UK to join the operation, which is expected to cost up to £10m
“The conditions which I have been made aware of are not acceptable,” she said.
“Working with our military partners we have found alternative accommodation. This will address the concerns highlighted.”
The apology comes after the The Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, highlighted the conditions its members were facing.
PA
MPs have warned the US President's visit it causing "mayhem" for British police.
Full story by The Independent's Home Affairs correspondent Lizzie Dearden here:
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