Trump greeted by royals on state visit to UK
May promises to bring up topic of climate change at meeting
US President Donald Trump and the first lady Melania have met members of the royal family and paid their respects at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey after arriving in London for a three-day state visit to the United Kingdom.
Following his arrival at Stansted Airport, the president flew by helicopter to London where he was welcomed by Prince Charles, and then on to Buckingham Palace, where the guests were met the Queen and greeted with a 41-gun salute and military honor guard.
The president and his wife then went to Westminster, where they met Prince Andrew, to pay their respects at the tomb on an unidentified soldier whose body was brought back from the World War I battlefields in France.
During his three day visit to the UK, Trump will also visit the coastal city of Portsmouth to take part in commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of D Day, the crucial allied military operation of Northern France in World War II.
Trump's diplomatic demeanor when meeting his host was in contrast to his arrival, where before his plane had even landed, he launched a Twitter attack on London mayor Sadiq Khan, who said his state visit "will be one we look back on with profound regret and acknowledge that we were on the wrong side of history".
Trump replied by calling Khan, whose name he spelt incorrectly, "a stone cold loser" who "by all accounts has done a terrible job as Mayor of London," before adding "I look forward to being a great friend to the United Kingdom."
British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who welcomed Trump at the airport, later told reporters that the president had voiced his "strong views about the Mayor of London" when they met.
Trump's arrival in London came the day after the US Ambassador in London, Woody Johnson, gave an interview to the BBC on the topic of future trade relations, and when asked about American interest in Britain's free at point of use National Health Service, said "I think probably the entire economy would in a trade deal, all things that are traded would be on the table," provoking public outrage.
Trump's trip coincides with the last week of Theresa May's premiership, before she steps down as Prime Minister at the end of the week and in a repeat of events on his visit to the UK last year, Trump has already given a newspaper interview extolling the virtues of Brexit-supporting former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as a potential leader.
He has also sparked fury by advising Britain to prepare to leave the European Union at the end of October without a deal, and proposed a prominent role for Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage in any discussions with the EU.
A major public demonstration against Trump's visit is planned in London on Tuesday, and on its flight path towards Stansted Airport, his plane flew over fields where climate change protesters had carved slogans.
Meanwhile, Downing Street has confirmed May will bring up the topic of climate change when she meets Trump.
The announcement comes after 250 academics sent May a letter pleading with her to "robustly challenge" him on the topic, and a government source told the BBC "the prime minister has raised climate change with the president before and will do so again during his visit."
The letter was organized by Bob Ward of the London School of Economics, who said he took heart from the response it had received.
"The prime minister can robustly challenge President Trump about his inaction on climate change with the knowledge that she has the extremely strong support of all the experts who signed the letter," he said.
"We all stand behind her on this issue. I hope she will raise the issue with him in public, as well as privately, so that Americans can see how much the president's climate change denial is damaging the international standing of the United States.
"It would be a tremendous legacy for Theresa May if she can shift Mr Trump from his position of stubborn denial of the risks of climate change."
