It has emerged that Donald Trump could be offered a second state visit to the UK, following a change in government and monarch since he was last invited.
However, government sources denied Nigel Farage’s claims that an invitation had already been issued by House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle for the next US president to address both houses of parliament.
His predecessor, John Bercow, said he would block Mr Trump’s invitation to address Parliament during his state visit in 2019.
In 2019, when Theresa May was Prime Minister, President Trump was welcomed to Buckingham Palace as a state guest of Queen Elizabeth II.
French President Jacques Chirac was entertained by the Queen in 1996 and 2004, the latter on what was called a “special visit” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Cordial Entente, but this is the second time a world leader has made an official state visit. There is no other example where this has been done.
However, government officials said Trump would not be able to do so, citing three differences since 2019: a presidential vacuum, a change of government from Conservatives to Labor, and a new King, Charles III. He said the possibility of a second state visit should not be ruled out.
But it’s not every day that a U.S. president is asked to address Congress during a state visit. The last US president to do so was Barack Obama. Joe Biden did not even receive a full monarch-sponsored state visit as US president, but his presidential term included the final year of the pandemic, the death of the Queen and the subsequent coronation of Charles III. .
Mr Farage told the Reform UK Party’s Welsh rally on Friday: And in fact, he has already invited Donald Trump to come and speak in both houses of Congress next year. ”
However, Mr Farage has not since repeated this claim. State visits for heads of state are usually issued by the UK government and the itinerary is set by No. 10, Buckingham Palace and the visiting dignitary.
The chairperson has a ceremonial role in issuing an invitation to speak in parliament, but in reality this is a request and agreement between the two countries. It is understood that the speaker has not received any requests so far.
Labor ministers have rejected Mr Farage’s repeated offers to act as an intermediary between the UK government and the incoming Trump administration. “If I can help in any way to mend the fence between the current Labor government and the incoming Trump administration, I would like to do that,” he said.
But on Sunday morning, Treasurer Darren Jones said that would not happen, saying Clacton voters “deserve a bit of a full-time MP, not a transatlantic pundit”.
