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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Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Vince Cable has said he hopes the UK Government is "a lot more robust" with Donald Trump during his visit.
"Frankly its given the impression so far of being sycophantic, of just cuddling up to him, and he clearly shows no respect for that whatever," he told the BBC.
"We should treat him in the same way we would treat a visit from President Putin. A working visit — of course we need to talk to these people but he's not a friend of this country and we should cease to regard him as one."
Half of Britons agree with Donald Trump's visit to the UK, but a large proportion don't think he should visit the Queen, according to a YouGov poll.
In total, 50 per cent of people surveyed think the working visit should continue, compared to just 37 per cent who think it should be cancelled. The remaining 13 per cent say they don’t know.
While support in this new poll is down 5 per cent from a May poll where YouGov asked about a working visit, it is still significantly higher than previous surveys that asked about a state rather than a working visit.
Just 35 per think the Queen should meet the US premier, as opposed to 49 per cent who believe she should not. The president is set to have tea with the monarch on Friday.
Overall, the British public hold the president in low regard. Only 17 per cent have a favourable view of Trump, compared to 77 per cent who have an unfavourable view of him.
Donald Trump has shared on Twitter a "very nice note" from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. The letter appears to not say very much, while making sure to fit in plenty of platitudes for the US president.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, the subject of one of Donald Trump's favourite conspiracy theories has been testifying to Congress.
Peter Strzok, an FBI agent whose anti-Trump text messages fueled accusations among Mr Trump and Republican allies of partisan bias, said at a bitterly contentious and occasionally chaotic hearing on Thursday that his work has never been tainted by politics, angrily rejecting Republican allegations that he set out to stop the billionaire from becoming president.
Peter Strzok testified publicly for the first time since being removed from special counsel Robert Mueller's team, telling lawmakers that texts he traded with an FBI lawyer in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election reflected personal views that he never once acted on.
"At no time, in any of those texts, did those personal beliefs ever enter into the realm of any action I took," Strzok said.
He insisted under aggressive questioning that an August 2016 text in which he said "We'll stop" a Trump presidency followed Trump's denigration of the family of a dead U.S. service member. He said it was his personal view, written late at night and off-the-cuff, of "horrible, disgusting behavior" by the Republican presidential candidate.
But, he added in a raised voice and emphatic tone, "It was in no way — unequivocally — any suggestion that me, the FBI, would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process for any candidate." Some Democrats applauded after he finished speaking.
Protesters are staging a noisy gathering near Winfield House where Donald Trump and his wife Melania are to spend the night.
A large group of demonstrators adopted an alternative version of England's World Cup anthem Three Lions as they sang and shouted, "He's going home, he's going home, he's going, Trump is going home" in Regent's Park.
A wide range of campaigners, including unions, faith and environmental groups came together to unite in opposition to Mr Trump's visit to the UK, organisers said.
Donald Trump claims "great success" at the Nato summit earlier today.
Donald Trump is soon arriving at Blenheim Palace for a black tie dinner with Theresa May. Police estimate there are 1,000 people protesting outside the palace.
BREAKING: Donald Trump arrives around 15 minutes late at Blenheim Palace as the Welsh, Irish and Scottish guards welcome him. Theresa May and her husband greet him and Melania as they get out of the Beast.
Once again, Donald Trump asks to hold Theresa May's hand, and she acquiesces.
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Theresa May has used the lavish welcome dinner for Donald Trump at Blenheim Palace to press her case for an ambitious new trade deal with the US after Brexit.
Critics of the Prime Minister's proposals for future relations with the EU claim that her willingness to align with Brussels rules on agricultural produce will block a US deal, as Washington is certain to insist on the inclusion of GM crops and hormone-enhanced beef, which are banned in Europe.
But addressing the US president in front of an audience of business leaders at Winston Churchill's birthplace, Mrs May insisted that Brexit provides an opportunity for an "unprecedented" agreement to boost jobs and growth.
Noting that more than one million Americans already work for British-owned firms, she told Mr Trump: "As we prepare to leave the European Union, we have an unprecedented opportunity to do more.
"It's an opportunity to reach a free trade agreement that creates jobs and growth here in the UK and right across the United States.
"It's also an opportunity to tear down the bureaucratic barriers that frustrate business leaders on both sides of the Atlantic.
"And it's an opportunity to shape the future of the world through co-operation in advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence."
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