President Trump ready to make a visit to UK... on Friday the 13th
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump will visit the UK in July – on Friday the 13th.
The long-awaited and controversial trip is expected to be a “working visit” rather than a fullblown state occasion.
The UK’s ambassador to the United States confirmed the visit, which will include face-to-face talks with Theresa May.
Downing Street and the White House had hoped to co-ordinate releasing details of the trip, but Mr Trump’s spokeswoman Sarah Sanders apparently let slip the information first.
UK ambassador Sir Kim Darroch confirmed the date on Twitter, saying he was “delighted” that Mr Trump would visit the UK.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “The President of the United States will visit the UK on 13 July.
“He will hold bilateral talks with the Prime Minister during his visit.
“Further details will be set out in due course.”
Mr Trump’s visit is likely to attract major protests, and even his supporters have urged him to stay away from London in an effort to avoid mass demonstrations.
In a letter to the US president, six conservative groups recommend he should instead focus his visit on his “ancestral home” of Scotland, including a meeting with the Queen at Balmoral.
Plans for a working visit to the UK in 2018 were announced when Mr Trump met Mrs May at Davos in January.
The July 13 date follows the Nato summit which the president is due to attend in Brussels on the previous days.
Interest in Mr Trump’s plans has been fuelled by this week’s high-profile state visit to the US of Emmanuel Macron, which some commentators have framed as a bid by the French president to make Paris Washington’s first port of call in Europe following Brexit.