President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will welcome King Charles III and Queen Camilla to Washington next week for a four-day state visit, marking the first official state visit of Trump’s second term.
The April 27-30 visit is expected to highlight the longstanding alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom as America approaches the 250th anniversary of its independence.
The royal couple will be greeted Monday at the White House, where the two couples are scheduled to take tea in the Green Room before touring the newly expanded White House beehive on the South Lawn.
The formal ceremonies begin Tuesday with a State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn, complete with military honors, national anthems, a 21-gun salute and a troop review. White House officials said nearly 500 members of the U.S. armed forces representing all six military branches will participate, a first for a state visit.
Following the ceremony, King Charles and Queen Camilla will sign the White House guest book and take part in an official gift exchange with the president and first lady. Trump and the king are then scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office.
While the leaders meet, Melania Trump and Queen Camilla are set to host a cross-cultural education event for students at the White House Tennis Pavilion. The program will feature virtual reality technology and AI-assisted learning tools focused on British and American history.
The centerpiece of the visit will come Tuesday evening, when Trump and the first lady host a State Dinner for the royal couple in the East Room. Additional details on the dinner are expected closer to the event.
The visit concludes Thursday morning with a formal farewell at the White House.
The trip underscores the close ties between Washington and London and offers a major diplomatic showcase early in Trump’s second term.
By DNU Staff