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Trump due for unprecedented second state visit

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Royals to host banquet for Trump

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Under-fire Starmer hopes to secure investment deals

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Visit comes less than a week after death of Trump ally

Kirk

By Elizabeth Piper and Steve Holland

LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Keir Starmer

hopes the pomp of a royal welcome for U.S. President Donald

Trump on a state visit to Britain this week will offer him

protection from possible pitfalls on anything from free speech

to scandal over Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump arrives in Britain late on Tuesday, to be greeted over

the next two days by King Charles and then Starmer on a visit

expected to be heavy on red carpet treatment and the promotion

of investment deals to draw the two nations' economies closer.

Starmer, under pressure after being forced to sack Peter

Mandelson as his ambassador to the U.S. over Epstein, wants the

visit to underline that his close ties to Trump can benefit

Britain.

TRANSATLANTIC TASKFORCE TO BE ANNOUNCED

To that end, finance minister Rachel Reeves will also hold

talks with U.S. Trade Secretary Scott Bessent and they are

expected to announce a 'Transatlantic taskforce' to deepen

cooperation between two of the world's largest financial

centres.

Senior U.S. officials said on Monday deals worth more than

$10 billion would be announced covering energy and technology.

"This historic second state visit is set to highlight and

renew the special relationship between the United States and the

United Kingdom," a senior U.S. official said on Monday.

A spokesperson for Starmer told reporters on Monday that the

prime minister "sees this state visit squarely through the lens

of delivering for working people," listing U.S. investment

pledged over the weekend to create 1,800 jobs in Britain and a

civil nuclear partnership which could lower energy prices.

Starmer could well do with the distraction when he hosts

Trump at his Chequers country residence on Thursday and one of

his main goals is to champion any wins secured during a visit

which is also expected to draw protests.

Several of his Labour lawmakers are angry over his handling

of the departures of both his deputy, Angela Rayner, and

Mandelson, questioning his full-throated support for both before

being forced to let them go.

After mis-steps over welfare reform, accepting gifts and tax

restrictions on child benefits, several lawmakers are

increasingly questioning the British leader's judgment and

political nous, especially at a time when Nigel Farage's

populist Reform UK party is running well ahead in the polls.

Perhaps the biggest pitfall is the likelihood of questions

about the late sex offender Epstein. Starmer has justified his

abrupt sacking of Mandelson last week by saying he was not aware

of the depth of the ex-ambassador's ties to the financier.

SCRUTINY OVER TRUMP'S RELATIONSHIP WITH EPSTEIN

But Trump's relationship with Epstein has also come under

scrutiny after Democrats in the House of Representatives made

public a birthday letter he allegedly wrote to him - something

the U.S. leader has denied writing.

Trump could also raise the issue of free speech in Britain,

after some of his allies said its new online safety laws

censored online debate and imposed costs on U.S. tech companies.

But the visit should also give him a diversion less than a

week after a close ally, conservative activist Charlie Kirk, was

shot dead at an outdoor event in Utah, a killing that has

appeared to affect the president deeply.

On Wednesday, Trump and his wife, Melania, will be treated

to British royal pageantry, including a carriage tour, a state

banquet, a flypast by military aircraft and a gun salute.

A day later, Starmer welcomes Trump to Chequers, a 16th

century manor house in the southern English countryside, to

discuss investment, finalising promised lower tariffs for steel

and aluminium, the so far frustrated efforts to end Russia's

full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the situation in Gaza.

Starmer hopes to build on the relationship they have

cultivated, which won him an economic deal on reducing Trump's

global tariffs.

BOTH WANT INVESTMENT BOOST

Both nations will have sizeable delegations and will be

largely protected from the planned protests. Trump will also be

joined by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who will hold

talks with Britain's newly-appointed foreign minister, Yvette

Cooper.

Business executives attending include Nvidia Corp ( NVDA )

CEO Jensen Huang and OpenAI's Sam Altman.

Olivia O'Sullivan, a director at the Chatham House think

tank, said Britain believed that by closely aligning with the

U.S., it could stay "on the cutting edge of the kind of frontier

technology," which is dominated by the U.S. and China.

($1 = 0.7352 pounds)