U.S. President Donald Trump and King Charles III during a state banquet at Windsor Castle for the State visit by the President of the United States of America on September 17, 2025 in Windsor, England.
Wpa Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump is due to leave Windsor Castle, where he and his wife Melania received the royal treatment on Wednesday — as the U.S. leader’s historic state visit to the U.K. turns to more serious business matters.
On Thursday, Trump will be heading to Chequers, the official country residence of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for trade and geopolitical talks with the British leader and delegations from the U.K. and U.S. Melania Trump is due to stay on at Windsor Castle this morning.
Trump will be greeted by Starmer and his wife Victoria, along with another ceremonial guard of honor and bagpipers, when he arrives at Chequers — a 16th-century manor house near London that prime ministers use as a rural retreat and more informal venue for international diplomacy.
Finalizing commitments laid out in the “economic prosperity deal” or U.S.-U.K. trade deal of May are expected to take center stage, as well as more thorny matters regarding 25% tariffs on British steel and aluminum that the U.K. wants reduced to zero. The ongoing wars in Ukraine and Middle East are also likely to feature on the agenda.
Speaking to reporters as he boarded Air Force One to travel to Britain on Tuesday, Trump said he was “into helping” the U.K. finesse the countries’ trade deal.
“They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit,” he said “We’ve made a deal, and it’s a great deal, and I’m into helping them,” he said at the time. “They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them.”
On Thursday, the U.S. president and U.K. PM will join British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves for a business reception before giving a joint press conference later in the day.
The state visit has already yielded fruit for the U.K., with £150 billion ($204 billion) worth of inward investment announced in the run-up to and during the trip. The British government hailed the investments on Wednesday, stating that these deals would “boost jobs, drive growth and deliver opportunity for working people up and down the country.”
President Donald Trump and Britain’s King Charles III review the Guard of Honour after the arrival at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025.
Kirsty Wigglesworth | Via Reuters
Key to the conversation, Starmer and Trump appear to truly get on.
While it’s uncertain how the Thursday talks will play out, there’s no doubt that the U.K. has pulled out the stops to impress its transatlantic ally.
At a glittering state banquet held at Windsor Castle on Wednesday night, Trump told a swathe of guests that included senior royals, top U.S. and British officials and business leaders, that being invited to Britain for an unprecedented second state visit was one of the “highest honors of my life.”
He then raised a few laughs when he joked that he hoped he’d be the only president to get two state visits.
King Charles delivers his speech as U.S. President Donald Trump and Catherine, Princess of Wales listen during the state banquet for the US President and First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of their second state visit to the UK, Wednesday Sept. 17, 2025.
Aaron Chown | Via Reuters
King Charles, in his own speech, praised the U.S. president’s “personal commitment to finding solutions to some of the world’s most intractable conflicts.”
Trumps otherwise basked in the royal limelight on Wednesday, visibly enjoying the pomp and ceremony, which included a royal gun salute, carriage procession through Windsor and guard of honor.
