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Trump urges May to 'stick around' to finalise 'very, very substantial' US-UK trade deal - live news Trump and May hold joint press conference after talks – live news
(32 minutes later)
More from the venue for the May/Trump press conference. From CNN’s Betsy Klein
Police sirens and audible boos from the crowd protesting outside Number 10 Downing as President Trump and PM May and their spouses head to their joint press conference pic.twitter.com/RPrMiyHvgB
From NBC’s Bill Neely
A crowd of several 100 jeers & boos as @realDonaldTrump emerges from Downing St. Talks with British PM @theresa_may, also chanting “Donald Trump Go Back Home!”
President Trump and Theresa May are now walking from Number 10 to the Foreign Office, which is just the other side of Downing Street, followed by their spouses.
From the Mirror’s Pippa Crerar
More of the Trump dynasty arriving - Ivanka (plus national security advisor John Bolton) pic.twitter.com/X8SkIJCeLb
From Ben Riley-Smith, the Telegraph’s US editor
Watching Fox News preamble before Trump-May presser is brilliant. We've been told UK would be "dead" if US hadn't intervened in WW2. And that George Washington was Britain's “number one nemesis”.
The Trump/May press conference is starting very soon.
This is from the New York Times’ Maggie Haberman.
Pompeo and Mnuchin, Mulvaney and Kellyanne Conway, Woody Johnson walk into room for joint presser. Greet the Trump family and then sit.
Just a few hundred United Against Trump protesters were in Parliament Square just before 1.30pm, where some were engaged in a confrontation with pro-Trump supporters who had come out to welcome the president and counter the demonstration against his presence in London.
Bob Marley tracks played quietly from a mobile stage in front of Westminster Abbey and political groups had stalls set up around the perimeter of the square, but it appeared as though the Parliament Square rally had been abandoned. As the Guardian made its way to the area, along Embankment, many people were walking the opposite direction, back towards Whitehall.
Political debate between pro- and anti-Trump protesters did not manage to surpass name calling, with one man’s chant of “Stop Trump” met with “Bye bye EU”, and a anti-Trump protester telling one man to “shut the fuck up”.
Pro-Trump protesters confront #TrumpProtest people in Parliament Square #TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/dLxKMwZYDj
Among those welcoming Trump to London was Lorraine Chappell, a retiree from London who wore a union flag as a scarf and carried a placard saying “Welcome President Trump”. She said:
I’m protesting today to welcome Donald Trump to London because America is our greatest ally and Donald Trump is a strong leader. I’m hoping [the UK will] do trade deals with the USA post-Brexit and he’s here today on the invitation of the Queen and these people should show some respect.
On the protesters, Chappell said:
It’s disgusting, it’s absolutely disgusting. I’m sure they are happy to go and have their holidays in America, but they are not happy to support its president. If the Queen went and [the Americans] made a balloon of the Queen we would be horrified.
America helped us to win the war. At the end of the day, without them we would all be speaking German by now.
We are in the minority, we know, and that’s why we came out here today. I don’t know what the Americans must think of this country if they saw what’s going on today. You can love him [Trump] or you can hate him, but you should show him respect.
"You can love him of you can hate him, but show him respect."Lorraine Chappell, a retiree from London, who was among counter protesters in Parliament Square against the #TrumpProtest#TrumpUKVisit pic.twitter.com/nHGsPHf53B
Here is another anti-Trump protester in London explaining why she is demonstrating.
And here are some pictures of Jeremy Corbyn speaking in Whitehall.
Jeremy Corbyn is speaking at the anti-Trump demonstration in Whitehall.
He welcomes the diversity of the crowd.
Addressing complaints about his decision to boycott the state banquet last night, he says he is not refusing to meet anyone. He would be willing to talk to President Trump, he says.
But he condemns Trump for his attack on Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London. He says he is very proud to have a Muslim as mayor of London.
Corbyn restates his opposition to racism.
He says he would never accept a trade deal that ended up with the NHS being up for sale. He adds the NHS must stay free at the point of deliver.
He also criticises Trump’s record on refugees, and says refugees should never be treated as enemies. They are fellow human beings, he says.
From there, he moves on to war and reminds the audience that he opposed the Iraq war in 2003. (At this point he is moving away from Trump, to an extent – Trump also says the Iraq war was a mistake.)
Corbyn ends by saying that a few weeks ago the Commons voted for a motion saying the UK was facing a climate emergency.
And he says “protest and activism” eventually lead to change.
More from the venue for the May-Trump press conference.
The view from Durbar Court at the Foreign Office ahead of the Trump/May press conference #TrumpVisitUK pic.twitter.com/hocIo8EDRQThe view from Durbar Court at the Foreign Office ahead of the Trump/May press conference #TrumpVisitUK pic.twitter.com/hocIo8EDRQ
More on handshakegate. (See 1.14pm.) To me, the explanation that you do not shake hands with someone you shook hands with at a meeting an hour or so earlier seems perfectly sound. That’s the Number 10 explanation. But the White House pool has offered a different take. The pool reporter says: More on handshakegate. (See 1.14pm.) To me, the explanation that you do not shake hands with someone you shook hands with at a meeting an hour or so earlier seems perfectly sound. That’s the No 10 explanation. But the White House pool has offered a different take. The pool reporter says:
To clarify on handshakes, PM May shook hands with FLOTUS and greeted POTUS but did not shake hands with him as FLOTUS was reaching across to shake Philip May’s hand.To clarify on handshakes, PM May shook hands with FLOTUS and greeted POTUS but did not shake hands with him as FLOTUS was reaching across to shake Philip May’s hand.
For anyone who never watched West Wing, POTUS is president of the United States and FLOTUS is first lady of the United States. For anyone who has never watched West Wing, POTUS stands for president of the United States and FLOTUS for first lady of the United States.
There has been some interest on social media in the fact that, when President Trump arrived at Downing Street, he did not shake Theresa May’s hand - even though he did shake hands with her husband. There has been some interest on social media in the fact that, when Trump arrived at Downing Street, he did not shake Theresa May’s hand – even though he did shake hands with her husband.
But the encounter took place shortly after May and Trump attended a business breakfast together at St James’s Palace (see 11.10am) where they did shake hands. “One only shakes another’s hand once in a day,” said a Number 10 source, quite reasonably. But the encounter took place shortly after May and Trump attended a business breakfast together at St James’s Palace (see 11.10am), where they did shake hands. “One only shakes another’s hand once in a day,” said a No 10 source, quite reasonably.
President Trump will be visiting the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall later with Theresa May, the White House pool is reporting. Melania Trump and Philip May will attend too.President Trump will be visiting the Churchill War Rooms in Whitehall later with Theresa May, the White House pool is reporting. Melania Trump and Philip May will attend too.
But Boris Johnson won’t be going. At one stage, when the state visit was being planned, there was talk of Johnson giving Trump a tour because Johnson has written a biography of Churchill and is seen as something of an expert. But that might have to wait for another day ... But Boris Johnson will not be going. At one stage, when the state visit was being planned, there was talk of Johnson giving Trump a tour because Johnson has written a biography of Churchill and is seen as something of an expert. But that might have to wait for another day ...
According to the Daily Mirror, Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and favourite in the contest to succeed Theresa May, has had a “friendly” 20-minute conversation with President Trump. But Johnson turned down an invitation to meet Trump tonight because he is due to attend a private hustings organised by One Nation Tories in the Commons, the Mirror reports.According to the Daily Mirror, Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary and favourite in the contest to succeed Theresa May, has had a “friendly” 20-minute conversation with President Trump. But Johnson turned down an invitation to meet Trump tonight because he is due to attend a private hustings organised by One Nation Tories in the Commons, the Mirror reports.
BREAKING Boris Johnson turns down Donald Trump's personal offer of a face-to-face meetinghttps://t.co/ADQDl1pqX0 pic.twitter.com/YXJajdBR3TBREAKING Boris Johnson turns down Donald Trump's personal offer of a face-to-face meetinghttps://t.co/ADQDl1pqX0 pic.twitter.com/YXJajdBR3T
According to Owen Bennett, the journalist who is publishing a biography of Michael Gove next month, Gove was rather more critical of Donald Trump before his election as president than he was when he interviewed him a few weeks later for the Times. (See 12.54pm.)
Little reminder of what Gove said about Trump just days before he was elected: “He's an intemperate, bullying, foul-mouthed panderer with no experience of public service, no record of charitable endeavour and no intention of paying his taxes."https://t.co/ECNujxi5OQ
Judging by the interview that President Trump gave to the Sun and the Sunday Times before he came to the UK, his view of people tends to be shaped to a considerable extent by whether or not they have praised him. (“I think [Boris Johnson would be excellent. I like him. I have always liked him ... He has been very positive about me and our country.”)
On that basis, Trump’s meeting with Michael Gove later (see 10.55am and 12.07pm) is likely to go well. I have been rereading Gove’s write-up of his interview with Trump in January 2017 (paywall) and it’s not exactly a hatchet job. Here’s an extract.
Ever since a Virginia farmer called George Washington launched his bid for glory, the British have had a tendency to underestimate American presidents. Especially Republicans. When Abraham Lincoln was in the White House, our government sympathised with the Confederacy. When Ronald Reagan was commander-in-chief, the British foreign policy establishment derided him as a trigger-happy cowboy who was in danger of pitching us into a third world war.
But no Republican, indeed no president, has come to office facing anything like the level of scorn and condescension from British politicians and commentators as Mr Trump. When we talked last Friday, however, he had nothing but kind words and generous sentiments for a nation he believes will be his strongest ally ...
He’s no Kissinger and you’d no more expect him to discuss Clausewitz and Kennan than set fire to his own hair. But intelligence takes many forms. And Mr Trump’s number-rich analysis of defence spending reflects a businessman’s ability to cut through jargon to get to the essentials of a case.
The same Trump who uses gladiatorial press conferences and CAPITALISED tweets to hurl huge crude blocks of rhetoric at opponents is also the master of the P&L accounts and the determined negotiator who sees government as a failing corporation ripe for re-engineering ...
Mr Trump’s conversation flows like a river in spate, overwhelming interruptions and objections, reflecting the force of nature that is the man. But it would be a mistake to think that he is all instinct and impulse. He wants to bring to governing the same calculating business style that he has brought to communicating. While he has been criticised for tweeting attacks on everyone from Meryl Streep to the civil rights hero John Lewis, he has no intention of abandoning Twitter because he believes it gives him a direct connection to the American people.
More from my colleague Damien Gayle on why people are protesting against Trump.
"Today I am a [chlorinated] chicken."@GlobalJusticeUK activist Jelly Cleaver, from Brixton, on why protesters against the #TrumpUKVisit don't want US trade deals after #Brexit pic.twitter.com/rAmx3lhRZr
"Trump is a beacon for neoliberalism and racist policies. He's not standing up for the interests of working people."@RMTunion activist John Reid, 65, right, on why he's protesting the #TrumpUKVisit #TrumpProtest #Trump pic.twitter.com/FqjnmWkpvf
We have got more than an hour to wait until the Trump/May press conference starts, but (as is usual for these events) the journalists have been told to arrive extra early. They are in the Foreign Offie and, as ITV’s Robert Peston reports, at least they’re in a nice room.
As press holding pens go, I’ve been in shabbier pic.twitter.com/NaeJAOuKYn
From the BBC’s Jon Sopel
BREAKING: anti-Trump demonstrators fail to stop ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ motorcade, but ⁦@Number10cat⁩ does. Lodges himself under wheel of #TheBeast #StateVisit pic.twitter.com/PAb8pWxItS
At least half of Change UK’s 11 MPs are poised to leave the fledgling political party, after its dismal performance at the European elections, my colleagues Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot report.
Change UK poised to lose at least half its MPs
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has described President Trump as a poster boy for the far-right. Expanding on comments he made yesterday, Khan said:
The reality is, when you look around the world there are many leaders whose views I find abhorrent – in Hungary, in Italy, in France, here in the UK, and the poster boy they look up to is Donald Trump.
And it should be a source of concern to us that Donald Trump is the poster boy for the far-right movement around the world and actually some of the things that he has done as president are deeply objectionable, far more objectionable than silly tweets he might send.
During the visit to Downing Street, the PM and president, along with their spouses, viewed the Sussex Declaration – a rare copy of the American Declaration of Independence on sheepskin parchment dating back to the 1780s, the Press Association reports.
As anti-Trump protesters began their slow march down Whitehall hundreds of placards remained on the ground around Trafalgar Square, suggesting that organisers had not achieved the numbers expected, or indeed matched those of the last Trump demo.
The square had not quite been filled. Nevertheless, and as promised by organisers, and despite persistent drizzle, there was indeed a carnival atmosphere on the demonstration, with samba bands and whistles accompanying the thousands slowly streaming towards parliament.
They will only make it halfway. Police have erected barricades along Whitehall to prevent protests outside Downing Street. Instead the demonstration will halt at the Women of World War Two memorial, where a stage will feature speakers, then take a circuitous route to Parliament Square for a mass rally.
Lots of placards left over in Trafalgar Square as the #TrumpUKVisit protest departs down Whitehall. Does this mean organisers have not achieved the numbers mobilised last year? pic.twitter.com/q3MjgsJbE0
The anti-Trump protesters have been moving down Whitehall, Sky News reports.