President Donald Trump will meet the Queen and go to Chequers when he visits Britain in July but largely avoid London amid fears of mass protests. The US leader’s long-delayed trip will take place on July 13 but last just 24 hours, including talks with Theresa May and an overnight stay. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said the news was “fantastic” but senior Labour figures warned that critics will not hold their tongues during the trip. The White House press secretary let slip the date on Thursday in a press conference for journalists’ children to mark America’s ‘Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day’. Mr Trump is understood to have personally approved the visit after weeks of careful negotiations between his staff, Number 10 and the UK embassy in Washington. The visit triggered renewed fears of mass protests – one of the reasons Mr Trump has delayed coming to Britain for so long according to US and UK sources. It also offers a chance for Mrs May to improve her personal relationship with the US president, which figures close to both leaders privately acknowledge is not especially warm. Delighted that President @realDonaldTrump will visit the UK on 13 July and hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister May.— Kim Darroch (@KimDarroch) April 26, 2018 Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visitto America this week, where the French and US leaders heralded a new “special relationship”, has cast the May-Trump relationship in a harsh light. Friday July 13 has been chosen as the date because Mr Trump, who is known not to enjoy long-distance travel, is in Brussels for a Nato meeting on July 11 and 12. A Downing Street spokesman said: “He will hold bilateral talks with the Prime Minister during his visit. Further details will be set out in due course.” The trip will not be the full state visit offered to Mr Trump just days after his inauguration, for which a date has yet to be set. Mrs May was the first foreign leader to visit the US president Credit: AFP While the exact details of the trip remain under discussion, Mr Trump is set to meet the Queen. He has repeatedly said how much his Scottish mother admired Her Majesty. He is also expected to hold talks with Mrs May at Chequers, her countryside residence. UK aides believe that pomp and ceremony will help foster a warmer relationship with the US president. Mr Trump is expected largely to avoid the capital, however, in a move that would minimise his exposure to the protests that are expected. Sadiq Khan, Labour’s London Mayor, said on Thursday: “If he comes to London, President Trump will experience an open and diverse city that has always chosen unity over division and hope over fear. He will also no doubt see that Londoners hold their liberal values of freedom of speech very dear.” In brief | Donald Trump on the UK The pair have previously clashed publicly, with Mr Trump tweeting criticism of Mr Khan’s comments after the London Bridge terror attack. It is also thought that Mr Trump could attend a rally outside London to raise money for the armed forces. Mr Trump will not be invited to address both Houses of Parliament – an honour that has been accorded to previous US presidents – because of opposition from John Bercow, the Commons speaker. Last November Mr Bercow said that addressing the Commons was "an earned honour and in my view he (Trump) has not earned that honour". A spokesman for the Speaker’s Office told The Daily Telegraph: “Mr Speaker’s views on this subject are a matter of public record. In any case, no request to address both Houses of Parliament has been received.” Mr Trump unexpectedly pulled out of a “working visit” in February to open the new US embassy in London, saying he was not a “big fan” of the deal Barack Obama struck for the building. Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron's 'special relationship' However US and UK sources have suggested concerns over protests in London and continued hostility to a visit from the Labour leadership was a bigger reason for the cancellation. Mr Johnson tweeted: “FANTASTIC news that President Donald Trump will at last come to Britain on 13 July. Looking forward to seeing our closest ally and friend on the GREATest visit ever.” FANTASTIC news that President @realdonaldtrump will at last come to Britain on 13 July. Looking forward to seeing our closest ally and friend on the GREATest visit ever. ����������— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 26, 2018 There are concerns in Government that Mrs May's clashes with Mr Trump have helped Emmanuel Macron, the French President, develop a closer relationship with the US President. A Cabinet source said: "There is genuine concern that Theresa May has mishandled the special relationship and allowed Emmanuel Macron to get ahead of us. We are trying to play catch up." Nigel Farage, the Ukip leader, told The Daily Telegraph: "One of the reasons that we are way behind the French is because we have got senior Labour figures who want to have mass street protests in London. "We shot ourselves in the foot with Sadiq Khan and sent a message that the President is not welcome here."
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The United States is hoping Afghanistan can strike a peace agreement including the Taliban before elections scheduled for July, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday. “It will be better for Afghanistan if we could get a peace agreement before the election, which is scheduled in July,” the negotiator said, adding that there remained “a lot of work” to do. Khalilzad, who is leading talks with the Taliban, was at the US Institute of Peace in Washington to discuss an ongoing push for a political settlement to the 17-year-old Afghanistan conflict.
Afghanistan’s presidential election will be postponed until July 20, an official said Sunday, as US-led efforts to end the 17-year war with the Taliban gather steam. The three-month delay, announced by the Independent Election Commission (IEC), comes after weeks of speculation that the vote would be put off to create more space for peace talks with Afghanistan’s largest militant group. The presidential ballot was originally scheduled for April 20, which many observers had considered unrealistic given the IEC was still finalising results of October’s shambolic and bloody parliamentary elections.
Former US president Barack Obama will deliver the annual Nelson Mandela memorial lecture at a 4,000-capacity arena in Johannesburg in July, South African organisers announced on Monday. Obama, who met with Mandela in 2005 and who made an emotional address at his funeral, will speak at the lecture marking 100 years since the anti-apartheid icon was born. “President Barack Obama — we will be looking forward to hosting him as he will be addressing this esteemed Nelson Mandela annual lecture,” Sello Hatang, head of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said.
