Trump’s U.K. visit turns from royalty to politics, as Brits focus on trade, Gaza and Ukraine

Chequers is the U.K. prime minister’s country house. Located about 40 miles northwest of London, it is a formidable estate, though no match for the environs of Windsor Castle where Mr. Trump spent Wednesday.

The home was constructed in the mid-1500s, about 200 years before the United States came into being, and it has served as the official country residence of Britain’s prime ministers since 1921.

Highly secured and well out of public view, Chequers has been the venue for a number of important meetings and negotiations. Famous visitors over the years have included many European leaders, U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In 1941, then-U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill was at Chequers when he learned that the Japanese navy had attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II.

President Trump’s Marine One helicopter touched down on the grounds of the U.K. prime minister’s official country residence Thursday. 

Mr. Trump was greeted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, and they walked into the house for a day of closed-door talks and a separate meeting with business leaders.

Mr. Trump and Starmer are expected to discuss a range of issues Thursday, including trade. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said Starmer’s government is hoping to negotiate “a little bit better deal” to ease trade restrictions including U.S. tariffs.

The leaders are expected to formally announce a U.S.-U.K. “Technology Prosperity Deal,” boosting ties in AI, quantum computing, and nuclear energy, with companies including Google, Microsoft and Nvidia on board to formalize some $42 billion of investments in the U.K. 

The wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also likely to come up, as Starmer has joined several other countries in announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state if Israel fails to meet certain conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire with Hamas and letting in more humanitarian aid.

On the war in Ukraine, Starmer and other European leaders have pushed Mr. Trump to take a harder line on Vladimir Putin, who’s blown past a series of deadlines issued by the president for Putin to meet directly with Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate a ceasefire. 

Mr. Trump has recently said “it takes two to tango,” suggesting he could still impose new sanctions against Russia, but he said America’s NATO allies first had to halt all purchases of Russian energy.

By Tucker Reals and Sara Cook 

President Trump bid farewell to King Charles and Windsor Castle on Thursday and boarded his Marine One helicopter for the short flight to Chequers, the official country residence of the British prime minister, Keir Starmer. 

He’s to hold a bilateral meeting, behind closed doors, with Starmer, and will also join a reception with business leaders, before the two leaders hold a joint news conference. 

On Thursday afternoon, Mr. Trump will leave Chequers and fly back to the U.S.

President Trump and first lady Melania were feted by King Charles III on the first full day of their state visit, the British royals putting on the kind of display they have long been known for — giving their U.S. visitor full military honors and a glittering state banquet at Windsor Castle.

There were protests in London, and even at Windsor the night before the Trumps arrived, deriding the U.S. leader’s policies and highlighting his past ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But police estimated a crowd of only about 5,000, and as the protesters were in central London, about 20 miles from Windsor, they were well out of Mr. Trump’s earshot as he enjoyed the royal treatment.

The day included a military honor featuring more than 1,000 British troops marching in formation, a military flypast — albeit toned down due to rain, a visit to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb, and then a formal state banquet where Mr. Trump sat at the center of a dining table more than 150 feet long.