President Donald Trump has departed London for Blenheim Palace ahead of a gala dinner with US and UK business leaders.
He was pictured getting into Marine One in a tuxedo with First Lady Melania, who was wearing a floor-length, pleated buttercup yellow gown.
The magnificent English country house, which was built in the early 18th century, was the ancestral seat of Sir Winston Churchill, who was born there in 1874.
President Trump arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is in Oxfordshire, in his helicopter at about 7.30pm tonight to be greeted Theresa May.
He is expected to be given a tour of Blenheim’s grounds by the 12th Duke of Marlborough, Jamie Blandford – also known as Jamie Spencer-Churchill.
He is expected to be given a tour of Blenheim’s grounds by the 12th Duke of Marlborough, Jamie Blandford – also known as Jamie Spencer-Churchill. Pictured: Trump in tux and Melania in her yellow dress
He was pictured getting into Marine One in black tie with First Lady Melania, who was wearing a floor-length, pleated buttercup yellow gown
Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his wife Lucia arrive at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, for a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May for President Donald Trump
The magnificent English country house, which was built in the early 18th century, was the ancestral seat of Sir Winston Churchill, who was born there in 1874. Pictured: Police guarding the entrance to Blenheim Palace
Among those on the guest list are British Petroleum chief executive Bob Dudley, the European boss of Goldman Sachs, Richard Gnodde, and Facebook UK and Ireland boss Steve Hatch. Pictured: Blenheim Palace prepares to welcome the president
Protesters gathered at the security fence watch as US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump leave in Marine One from the US ambassador’s residence, Winfield House
President Trump is expected to arrive at the UNESCO World Heritage Site in a helicopter at about 7.30pm tonight and will be greeted by Theresa May
President Trump’s Marine One helicopter flies past the Column of Victory at Blenheim Palace as he arrives at the Oxfordshire estate
Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip walk down the red carpet to greet the president at Blenheim Palace this evening
Blandford has had a much-publicised struggle with drug addiction – a habit he gave up a decade ago – and has previously been jailed after run-ins with the law.
Last year, he confessed: ‘I changed religion when I went to jail. I became a Muslim because you got more food. It wasn’t the time of Ramadan. I luckily hit it just right – just afterwards!’
Following his tour, Trump will be joined by his wife Melania at a black tie dinner of about 150 business chiefs.
Melania is wearing a J Mendel SS18 gown costing £5,000.
Guests are expected to enjoy a meal of Scottish salmon, English beef and a desert of strawberries and cream.
As part of the exclusive event, business figures from dozens of FTSE100 firms will have the chance to hear from the Donald as he speaks about his industrial and trading policies.
Among those on the guest list are British Petroleum chief executive Bob Dudley, the European boss of Goldman Sachs, Richard Gnodde, and Facebook UK and Ireland boss Steve Hatch.
Blandford has had a much-publicised struggle with drug addiction – a habit he gave up a decade ago – and has previously been jailed after run-ins with the law
Jamie Spencer-Churchill has previously explained how he gave up hard drugs a decade ago. He is pictured being arrested in 1993
Insurer Legal and General has two executives travelling to Oxfordshire for tonight’s event, namely its CEO Nigel Wilson and head of personal investing, Helena Morrissey.
BlackRock boss Larry Fink and Unilever chief executive Paul Polman will also attend the black-tie evening, as will he chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley.
There are a number of protesters outside Blenheim Palace demonstrating against the presence of the American president in the UK.
Trump is believed to be a great admirer of Churchill’s, having last year demanded that a bust of the wartime leader be returned to the White House after President Obama removed it.
Churchill was a descendant of Sir John Churchill, for whom Blenheim Palace was built in reward for his successes during the War of the Spanish Succession.
It comes after he was said to have given a ‘positive’ and ‘complimentary’ speech about England as he addressed US Embassy workers within hours of his arrival in the UK.
Angry anti-Trump activists hold up signs and bang pots and colanders outside the US ambassador’s Regent’s Park residence
The protesters promised to create a ‘wall of sound’ outside the official US ambassador’s residence. Above, a woman strikes a colander with a ladle while others hold up signs expressing disapprobation of the president
Several protesters hold up their placards outside Blenheim Palace, where President Donald Trump will have dinner tonight
Anti-Trump activists gather outside the ‘Ring of Steel’ fence put up to secure the president when he stays in Regent’s Park, London
He touched down in Britain for his first official visit and has already brushed off mass protests by saying: ‘I think they like me a lot in the UK’
He also caused Theresa May a new headache over Brexit.
Most people, a number of whom said they worked at the embassy in London, were tight-lipped as they left a secured area in the park near the US ambassador’s residence, where Mr Trump and his wife Melania will stay overnight.
Some cited ‘job restrictions’ while another said he was wary of the press. But one woman said Mr Trump had given a ‘short speech’ which she described as ‘lovely’.
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania were given a guard of honour by the RAF after arriving in the UK today
Earlier President Trump and Melania walked from Air Force One as they landed at Stansted Airport this afternoon
Britain’s most elite counter terrorism police unit CTSFO are also shadowing the US President during his high-profile stay
The exterior of The Trump Arms public house in west London, formally named The Jameson, which has embraced the arrival of US President Donald Trump. Damien Smyth, from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, runs the establishment. He told the i newspaper: ‘America is our biggest ally. They’re our best friends in the world. They’d be the ones here first if something went wrong – not Germany, not France. I think these people protesting his visit are rude and insulting’
Donald Trump raises his fist in the air as he lands at the US Ambassador’s historic London home at the start of his four-day tour
Marine One carrying The Donald and his wife passes the BT Tower and comes in to land at the US Ambassador’s central London residence this afternoon
Another man, who did not wish to give his name, said: ‘It was very complimentary to England and to the allies that we have, very positive.’
The US President, 72, who will meet the Prime Minister and Queen during a four-day red carpet visit, landed at Stansted Airport on Air Force One at just before 2pm and walked off hand-in-hand with First Lady Melania.
America’s Commander-in-Chief has 1,000 of his own staff in the UK and a giant motorcade led by his bomb-proof Cadillac nicknamed ‘The Beast’ as well as multiple helicopters including Marine One to fly him around.
The President and his First Lady were met on the tarmac by US Ambassador Woody Johnson and UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox before he was whisked off to Mr Johnson’s house near Regent’s Park.
Earlier today Mr Trump gave an extraordinary press conference in Brussels after giving NATO leaders a bruising over defence cash, where he wrote off protesters and said Theresa May’s Brexit deal probably wasn’t what Britons voted for.
When asked about the threat of mass demonstrations he said: ‘I think it’s fine. A lot of people like me there. I think they agree with me on immigration. I think that’s why Brexit happened’.
Donald Trump salutes the US Marines who flew him from Stansted to Regent’s Park in London on the first day of his four-day tour
Mr Trump and Melania hold hands and talk to US Ambassador Woody Johnson, who will give them a place to stay tonight
Marine One, the President’s helicopter, is one of a large number of aircraft he has brought with him for the British visit (shown here landing with him inside)
His aerial entourage followed him, and included an Osprey helicopter carrying elite troops from the US Marine Corps protecting him in the UK
Protesters, meanwhile, are staging a noisy gathering near Winfield House where Trump and his wife Melania are to spend the night.
A large group of demonstrators adopted an alternative version of England’s World Cup anthem Three Lions as they sang and shouted, ‘He’s going home, he’s going home, he’s going, Trump is going home’ in Regent’s Park.
A wide range of campaigners, including unions, faith and environmental groups came together to unite in opposition to Mr Trump’s visit to the UK, organisers said.
Bells and whistles rang out alongside cheers and claps for speakers throughout the protest, staged near the US ambassador’s official residence, as the crowd was encouraged to shout loudly in the hope Mr Trump could hear.
Placards including ‘Dump Trump’ and ‘Trump not welcome’ were held aloft by the enthusiastic crowd before some began banging on the metal fence which has been erected in the park.
A clip of what organisers said was the sound of children crying at the US border after being separated from their parents was played and described by those listening as ‘disgusting’.
Donald Trump’s motorcade speeds through Regent’s Park led by elite British police from Scotland Yard
Marine One comes in to land at the US Ambassador’s central London residence this afternoon, which sits next door to the London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park (minaret pictured)
Days of protests are planned for The Donald’s visit, including a march through central London tomorrow and everywhere he is visiting
The ‘Nuclear Football’ – the suitcase containing the United States’ nuclear codes – is shown being carried by a member of Trump’s entourage after the president landed in Stansted
This giant and controversial Trump balloon showing the world leader in a nappy will be flying over London this weekend
Sam Fullerton from Oklahoma said while Mr Trump may not see the protest from Winfield House which is set back inside the fenced-off area in the park, he hoped he would hear it or see it on television.
Mr Fullerton said: ‘He watches a lot of TV so he’ll see it on TV. Or they may be out in the backyard.’
His wife Jami, a Hillary Clinton supporter, said the protest was ‘democracy at its finest’.
‘I’m here to witness democracy outside of our own country to see how other democratic societies express themselves,’ she said.
‘I think it’s great. The British are pretty gentle people.’
John Rees, of the Stop The War group, described Mr Trump as a ‘wrecking ball’ as he addressed those gathered.
He said: ‘He’s a wrecking ball for race relations, he’s a wrecking ball for prosperity, he’s a wrecking ball for women’s rights, he’s a wrecking ball for any peace and justice in this world and we have to stop him.’
Some of those gathered said they planned to stay for Mr Trump’s return after the First Couple dine at Blenheim Palace with Theresa May.
Who is on the guest list for the Blenheim Palace dinner with Donald Trump and who failed to get an invite?
Among those on the guest list are British Petroleum chief executive Bob Dudley
By Alexander Robertson for MailOnline
Theresa May is throwing Donald Trump a lavish black-tie dinner at Blenheim Palace, the ancestral home of his hero Sir Winston Churchill.
The Prime Minister is trying to woo the President with dinner of Scottish salmon, English Hereford beef filet and vegetables, and strawberries and clotted cream ice cream.
As part of the exclusive event, business figures from dozens of FTSE100 firms will have the chance to hear from the Donald as he speaks about his industrial and trading policies.
Who will be there?
The US President will dine with around 150 business leaders at the stately home, as well as ministers.
Among those on the guest list are British Petroleum chief executive Bob Dudley, the European boss of Goldman Sachs, Richard Gnodde, and Facebook UK and Ireland boss Steve Hatch.
Insurer Legal and General has two executives travelling to Oxfordshire for tonight’s event, namely its CEO Nigel Wilson and head of personal investing, Helena Morrissey.
BlackRock boss Larry Fink and Unilever chief executive Paul Polman will also attend the black-tie evening, as will he chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley.
Who will not be going?
Steel giant Tata has been a vocal critic of the President’s 15 per cent steel tariffs and has unsurprisingly been left off the guest list for tonight’s big event.
Businesswoman Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, who co founded Last Minute online travel website at the height of the dotcom boom, turned down an invite to attend.
Explaining her reasons for turning down the offer, she said: ‘I understand why the government have to entertain Trump, but I certainly don’t want to.’
Meanwhile, Lord Sugar, the businessman and presenter of the UK TV show The Apprentice, which Donald Trump fronted in America, did not get an invite. The BBC star has made several digs at the US President on Twitter over the years.
Sir Richard Branson, who is perhaps Britain’s most famous businessperson, is not understood to be making the trip up to Blenheim, after the Virgin boss posted a blog in 2016 imploring Americans not to vote for Trump in the US election.
The two have a long-running feud after Branson, a friend of former President Barack Obama, launched a television programme called The Rebel Billionaire: Branson’s Quest for the Best, which followed a similar format to the Apprentice.
In his book Finding My Virginity, Branson published a letter from Trump, in which the future US President wrote: ‘At least your dismal ratings can now allow you to concentrate on your airline which, I am sure, needs every ounce of your energy.
‘It is obviously a terrible business and I can’t imagine, with fuel prices etc, that you can be doing any better in it than anyone else.’