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Trump UK visit: President will bring Melania and all his adult children on trip, reports say

Long-delayed trip won't feature some of the lavish details the US president reportedly desired

Chris Riotta
New York
Friday 24 May 2019 00:26 BST
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A royal affair: Donald Trump plans to bring all of his children on his upcoming trip to the UK
A royal affair: Donald Trump plans to bring all of his children on his upcoming trip to the UK (AFP/Getty )

Donald Trump will bring his entire family — including all of his adult children and their spouses — on an official state visit to the UK next month that likely includes a trip to Buckingham Palace, according to US reports.

That’s the latest development surrounding the long-delayed trip by the US president to Britain, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who tweeted the news on Thursday afternoon.

Buckingham Palace previously confirmed a date for the state visit in June, nearly two-and-a-half years after initially extending the invitation to Mr Trump, although White House and UK officials have yet to confirm the latest details.

The guest list for the state banquet dinner on 3 June has also not yet been confirmed. Still, a president’s family would typically accompany them to the event.

That means Mr Trump could very well bring the first lady, his daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and the rest of the Trump family to the royal affair.

The president, who has regularly criticised Theresa May handling of Brexit while insisting he would have been able to successfully negotiate a deal, would also likely be expected to meet with her during his next visit.

"I told her how to do it. That will be up to her to say. But I told her how to do it. She wanted to go a different route," Mr Trump said in an audio recording of an interview with The Sun during his last visit to the UK in 2018.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was then forced to clarify those comments, saying in a statement, “The President likes and respects Prime Minister May very much.”

“As he said in his interview with The Sun she 'is a very good person' and he 'never said anything bad about her.' He thought she was great on NATO today and is a really terrific person,” she continued. “He is thankful for the wonderful welcome from the Prime Minister here in the UK."

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Reports emerged on Thursday claiming the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would not be joining the Queen during her state banquet with the Trump family, with The Times noting Meghan Markle’s past comments about the president being “misogynistic” during the 2016 election.

The Times also reported Mr Trump would not be greeted at Horse Guards Parade by a carriage procession as he had desired, but instead by the Queen in the Buckingham Palace garden. He will also reportedly stay at the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park rather than the Buckingham Palace.

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