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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Politics
Andrew Sparrow, Mattha Busby, Kate Lyons and Kevin Rawlinson

Donald Trump backtracks on May comments and meets Queen – as it happened

Evening summary

That’s all from us this evening – thanks for reading. You can read our full round-up of the day’s news – and there was a lot of it – here:

And here’s a summary of what’s happened this evening:

  • Jeremy Corbyn was among those to address the anti-Trump protesters in London. He told them: “We are asserting our rights to democracy, our rights to freedom of speech and our rights to want a world that is not divided by misogyny, racism and hate.”
  • Major demonstrations also took place in Edinburgh and Manchester. Protesters there told the Guardian that Trump was guilty of the “manipulation of the white working class”.
  • After meeting the Queen, Trump boarded Air Force One to travel to Scotland. The US president intends to visit a golf course he owns near Glasgow. He faces further protests there.

You can read a summary of the day’s earlier events here.

Updated

Seems there’s been a change of plan at ITV News and we won’t hear anything more on that interview with Donald Trump this evening:

The Scottish secretary, David Mundell, said the president deserved a formal welcome to Scotland despite widespread protests planned across the country at Donald Trump’s visit.

But he stressed that the government’s welcome was extended to him in his capacity as president, rather than in a personal one. Speaking at Prestwick airport, he said:

We have an open democracy here, people are entitled to say what they want and covey whatever message they want. That’s a great thing about our country.

But I believe that it’s appropriate that we give a formal welcome to a head of state of the United States of America, the duly elected president, whoever that person is and whether we agree or not with their views of policies.

I wanted to make it clear that he was being welcomed to Scotland as the president of the United States and that we value the strong relationship we have between Scotland and America. I also said, because I know it to be the case, that people in and around the Turnberry area do very much welcome the investment he has put in.

[Trump] said he had been in Scotland many times and was very pleased to be here as president. He obviously feels very strongly about his mother’s Scottish heritage and he’s looking forward to playing golf at Turnberry and is hopeful that the weather will be conducive to that.

Hundreds of people watched the plane touch down at a nearby viewing area set up by the airport.

A Trump jet, used by the president’s family, was already parked outside a hangar at Prestwick when Air Force One touched down. Eric Trump had spent Thursday at the golf course in Aberdeenshire and had said he was looking forward to spending the weekend with his father.

Mundell said Donald Trump told him he was “pleased to be here” and that the UK’s relationship with the US was “very important”.

Air Force One touched down at 8.22pm and the presidential motorcade was waiting to take Donald and Melania Trump, to his nearby Turnberry hotel. The US president gave a wave before descending the steps with his wife.

They were met briefly by the Scottish secretary, David Mundell, before driving off in a vehicle with the US and Scottish flags displayed on the bonnet.

Sky News is carrying live pictures of Trump landing at Glasgow’s Prestwick airport. He is due to visit one of his golf courses while in Scotland.

Updated

Here’s a little more from Libby Brooks, who is at the anti-Trump protest in Edinburgh:

Updated

Trump Baby is coming to Scotland tomorrow to join marchers in Edinburgh as they congregate at the Holyrood Parliament, file past the US embassy and end up at the Meadows for a carnival afternoon.

Organisers had hoped to be able to fly the six-metre balloon, which depicts Trump as an angry baby, outside his resort in Turnberry where he is spending the weekend, but Police Scotland said yesterday that they would not allow it within the exclusion zone.

And here’s a graphic showing where in Scotland Trump plans to be – and when:

Trump Scotland graphic
Graphic showing Donald Trump itinerary for the Scotland leg of his UK visit.

Updated

Looks like we may have a slight wait to find out exactly what was said. This is from ITV News’ political correspondent:

Two Bloomberg journalists are reporting that Donald Trump has done an interview with the former Daily Mirror editor, Piers Morgan. We’ll bring you any updates on that as and when we have them.

Updated

Chris Foote, a reporter at STV, says the anti-Trump protesters are present at Prestwick as well, where the US president is heading:

The SNP’s deputy leader, Keith Brown, has just spoken to the crowd in George Square to massive cheers. He told them:

People ask why Donald Trump isn’t meeting Nicola Sturgeon. It’s because she’d tell him what she thought, unlike Theresa May.

Brown went on to criticise the prime minister’s negotiations with Trump:

With Theresa May desperately chasing this trade deal with the US, we now face the prospect that the NHS across the UK will be opened up to American private healthcare firms. Scotland rejects these plans and sends a message to Trump and to Theresa May: ‘Hands off Scotland’s NHS’.

Updated

This footage shows the scale of the crowds at the anti-Trump protest in central London’s Trafalgar Square earlier this afternoon – people are still gathering there now:

In London, Hackney-based artists Felix Stochaj, 29, and James Wood, 24, have created a “Thump Trump” punching bag for protesters to release their aggression. Stochaj said:

We’ve provided a bit of comic relief and release for everyone.

In Manchester’s Albert Square, several thousand people gathered under increasingly leaden skies to tell Donald Trump to “do one”, in the local parlance.

Placards took inspiration from the city’s rich musical history, one borrowing the title of a Smiths song to warn “Big Mouth Strikes Again” below a picture of Trump’s unmistakable yellow coiffure.

Another touched on a favourite local topic to point out:

It was made by civil engineer Claire Hyde, 43, who said she wanted to tell Trump to “think about the environment and the changes we can make.”

One poster told Trump:

It was made by David Kinder, 40, an art teacher from Liverpool, and his sister Jinny, 26. He said he was protesting for environmental reasons:

If Theresa May does a trade deal with him we are going to see nerve gas-coated crops and chlorine washed chicken in the UK, as well as poorly regulated pharmaceuticals.

Criminal solicitor Mary Monson, 70, was on her first ever protest and had gone in big, hiring an open top bus to tour Greater Manchester ahead of the demo.

Normally I don’t think it’s the place of lawyer to protest, yet I believe Trump represents the worst of humanity. I do not like how he manipulates the angry and underrepresented white working class and exploits their justifiable anger to turn them against people who — albeit come from a different country — are just like them.

There were speeches from local politicians, a refugee and the Manchester Sister supporter group, who have been campaigning for safe spaces around abortion clinics in the city.

Also on stage was six-year-old Maisy Simpson, who said Trump was “really mean to children and parents” and gave a message to “all the people in the world: we can be better than this.”

Updated

Here’s a little more from my colleague, Damien Gayle, who’s been at the rally to see the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and prominent MP, David Lammy, address the crowd. The former took to the stage just after 5pm to the now-familiar chants of his name.

We are asserting our rights to democracy, our rights to freedom of speech and our rights to want a world that is not divided by misogyny, racism and hate.

It’s not about being prepared to talk to people with whom we disagree. I’m very prepared to talk to anybody about anything in order to advance the cause of peace, democracy and human rights.

It’s not about interfering with the affairs of another country, but when somebody on a global stage condemns Muslims because they are Muslims it is not acceptable and we will call it out.

Lammy, who represents the Tottenham constituency, said:

This is our great multi-ethnic city, Donald Trump. And we are here to send you a very different message to Theresa May. Some have said: ‘Why do we march? Why are we showing such disrespect to the president of the United States of America?’

Let me just say why we march. As the great black American writer, James Baldwin, said: ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it’s faced’.

So, we face Donald Trump and we ask for change, yes?

London, I can only speak on this stage and only march with you because our ancestors stood up to the oppressors of the past, because great men and women faced down the bigots, because they stood with people who marched for equality, for fairness and justice, and equal opportunities for all.

That’s why we march, we march to protect those freedoms and to protect the world for our children and grandchildren.

We don’t march because we hate the United States of America; we march because we love the United States of America.

Updated

Protesters congregated in Glasgow’s George Square on Friday evening, with organisers expecting thousands to converge on the city centre in the summer sunshine for an evening of political speakers and music.

Stephen Gilmour, 46, from Scotstoun in Glasgow, is here with his daughter Molly, nine, and son Eddie, six. He said:

It felt part of our duty to say no, we don’t accept having this man who stands for an enormous amount of inequality, racism and xenophobia in our country. These are not principles that we adhere to in Scotland.

Many had come with their children, including 32-year-old Roberta Logan from Lenzie, who was accompanied by her sons Magnus, six, and Aidan, three.

It felt important to bring them today to teach them to stand up against things that are wrong, and Donald Trump is against things that we have brought them up to believe in. It’s important to get the boys to understand that this is not just something we talk about but we do something about. I don’t know if trump cares whether we’re demonstrating but it’s still important to be here with other people.

Speakers included the deputy leader of the Scottish National party, Keith Brown, who delivered his party’s strongest statement on Trump’s visit when he speaks later. Trump has not asked to meet party leader and first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who has been a vocal critic of his policies, during his trip to Scotland.

Citing Trump’s misogyny, racism and Islamophobia, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard told the crowd that “we are setting out before the world all of those things that we are against” and called for a travel ban on Trump from Prestwick airport, where he will arrive later today to spend the weekend at his luxury golfing resort in Turnberry.

Updated

Here are the key moments from the press conference.

That’s all from me for today. My colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over now.

‘Stop Trump’ demonstrators in Trafalgar Square
‘Stop Trump’ demonstrators in Trafalgar Square Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Armed police guard the area where Air Force One will be landing at Prestwick Airport in Scotland later today.
Armed police guard the area where Air Force One will be landing at Prestwick Airport in Scotland later today. Photograph: Robert Perry/EPA

Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd in Trafalgar Square and was received with enthusiasm, the Press Association reports. “We are asserting our right to demonstrate, our right to free speech,” he said.

Corbyn said Sadiq Khan deserves support and not condemnation. “Human rights belong to all of us,” he added.

Corbyn said the message of the demonstration was “one of solidarity”. He added: “When we unite together with common objectives, we can all win.”

The crowd applauded him warmly and chanted “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn”.

Trump/May press conference - Summary

Here is a summary of the main points from the Trump/May press conference. I’ve taken the quotes from a British embassy transcript.

  • May rejected Trump’s claim in his Sun interview that her Chequers plan would “kill” a future UK-US trade deal. (See 9.04am.) Without referring directly to what Trump, in her opening remarks she said:

We agreed today, that as the UK leaves the European Union, we will pursue an ambitious US-UK free trade agreement. The Chequers agreement reached last week provides the platform for Donald and me to agree an ambitious deal that works for both countries right across our economies.

And, in answer to a question, she said:

There will be no limit to the possibility of us doing trade deals around the world once we leave the EU.

  • Trump said that May had assured him the UK would be able to do a trade deal with the US after Brexit. He said:

The only thing I ask of Theresa is we make sure that we can trade [after Brexit] and don’t have any restrictions. We want the UK to trade with us. We have a tremendous opportunity to double, triple or quadruple trade. If they’re going to go a certain route, I just said I hope they will be able to trade with the US. I read reports that said that would not be possible, but after speaking with the PM and her representatives, it seems that will be possible. We want to be able to trade and they want to be able to trade.

  • Trump said immigration had been “very negative” for Europe, making a direct link between immigration and terrorism. Asked why he thought immigration was damaging to Europe, he said:

I think it’s been bad for Europe. I know Europe very well and it’s been tough. We’ve seen some terror attacks. I just think it’s changing the culture and is very negative for Europe and Germany - I have a great relationship with Angela Merkel, but it’s hurt Germany and other parts of Europe. It’s not politically-correct to say that, but I’ll say it and say it loud. Look at what’s happening to different countries that never had problems - it’s a very sad situation. It’s not good for Europe and it’s not good for our country.

  • He claimed American immigration laws were so weak they did not deserve to be called laws.

We have very bad immigration laws. We’re doing incredibly well considering we virtually don’t have immigration laws - I don’t even call them laws, you just walk across the border and then you’re tied in a lawsuit for five years.

  • May rejected Trump’s comments about immigration. Speaking immediately after Trump’s anti-immigration diatribe, she said this in response to question about whether she agreed with his concerns.

The UK has a proud history of welcoming people who flee persecution or want to contribute to our economy and society. Over the years, immigration has been good for the UK. What is important is we have control of our borders and a set of rules to determine who comes into our country.

  • Trump said that May probably found his proposal for dealing with the EU in the Brexit talks “too brutal”. He said:

As far as advice goes, I gave her a suggestion and I think maybe she found it too brutal. I gave her a suggestion, not advice. I can fully understand why she thought it might be tough - if they don’t get the right deal, she may choose to do what I suggested.

He did not say what his recommendation was.

  • Trump stressed his admiration for May. He said:

I said [in the Sun interview] that this incredible woman here is doing a fantastic job, a great job, and I mean that. I have gotten to know Theresa May much better over the last two days than the last year-and-a-half. I think she is a terrific woman and doing a terrific job ...

She will do very well. She is a tough negotiator and a very smart and determined person. I would much rather have her as my friend than enemy.

  • He claimed the Sun write-up of his interview was “fake news” because it did not include his positive comments about May (even though it did). He said:

A story was done that was generally fine but didn’t put in the tremendous things I say about the PM. We have recordings when we deal with reporters. It’s called fake news.

  • He said that he had apologised to May for how the Sun interview came out. He said:

I said very good things [in the interview] about Theresa May. I don’t think they put it in, but that’s all right. I said to Theresa May I wanted to apologise, but she said ‘Don’t worry, it’s only the press’.

  • He said he would described the UK-US relationship as being at “the highest level of special”.
  • He reiterated his belief that he thought Boris Johnson would be “a great PM”.
  • May stressed the importance of Nato unity, implicitly suggesting that she was worried that Trump might be undermining it. In her opening remarks she said:

We agreed that it is important to engage Russia from a position of strength and unity ...

It is all of our responsibility to ensure that transatlantic unity endures. For it has been fundamental to the protection and projection of our interests and values for generations.

With US leadership at its foundation, its beating heart remains our democratic values and our commitment to justice.

And, in answer to a question, she said:

What is important is that the president goes into this [his meeting with Vladimir Putin] from a position of strength, as he is doing, as well as a position of unity in Nato.

  • Trump strongly criticised the EU’s trade policy. He said:

The EU treats the US horribly, and that’s going to change. They have barriers beyond belief.

  • He said Russia would not approve of what he had achieved with Nato.

When you look at what we’ve done in terms of Russia, I bet they’re saying ‘I wish Trump wasn’t the victor in that election’. We have been extremely tough on Russia, including when the PM called after a horrible thing happened here. She asked if I’d do something and we expelled 60 people - Germany did three. The fake news doesn’t want to talk about it. We have been very strong on Russia.

UPDATE: This has been amended to say the quotes are from a British embassy transcript, not a White House transcript.

Donald Trump and Theresa May at their press conference.
Donald Trump and Theresa May at their press conference. Photograph: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn joining the anti-Trump demonstration in Trafalgar Square
Jeremy Corbyn joining the anti-Trump demonstration in Trafalgar Square Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

This is from Sarah Sanders, Trump’s press secretary.

At his press conference President Trump said that he would raise the question of Russian “meddling” in the US presidential election when he meets President Putin on Monday. Claims that Russia was heavily involved are certainly not going away. As my colleague Jon Swaine reports, a dozen Russians have been criminally charged with hacking and leaking the emails of senior Democrats during the 2016 presidential election campaign, it was announced this afternoon.

President Trump with the Queen inspecting the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle
President Trump with the Queen inspecting the Guard of Honour at Windsor Castle Photograph: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

This is from CNN’s Michelle Kosinski.

Several US citizens have been in touch to tell us why they are taking part in demonstrations while Trump is with them in the UK.

Amie Sparrow, 38, from Chicago, has lived in the UK for five years, and is in London with friends today. She says:

Today it was massively important for me to come and protest Trump. I voted absentee for Hilary and because I live in the UK I feel powerless over what he is doing to my country. I am happy to have some opportunity to take the power back and express my distaste for Trump. He does not represent me. He does not represent my America.

Amie Sparrow in London on Friday afternoon.
Amie Sparrow in London on Friday afternoon. Photograph: Kat Nicholls

Lisa Hume, 44, from Memphis, will be protesting in Edinburgh on Saturday. She says:

I’m proud to take a break from my vacation and support others outside of my home country who are also against this diabolical man, who is dismantling my country, beginning with our most marginalized citizens through his fearmongering and unconstitutional tactics. Each person I meet in the UK expresses compassion and concern for my sister citizens in the US. Knowing our global sisters and brothers also disapprove of Trump empowers me.

You can continue to share your views and tell us what you are doing today here or via WhatsApp by adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.

Updated

Donald Trump is now arriving at Windsor Castle for his meeting with the Queen.

A papier maché Donald Trump gives his own, single-handed press conference on the Together Against Trump march.
A papier maché Donald Trump gives his own, single-handed press conference on the Together Against Trump march. Photograph: Shay Broomhall

Jeremy Corbyn will be speaking at the anti-Trump rally in London, sources have confirmed.

Corbyn says UK should not be 'rolling out the red carpet' for Trump

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has given a TV interview about President Trump’s visit. He said the UK should not be rolling out the red carpet for Trump. He said:

Whatever the decision the Queen decides to take about whether to invite him to tea or not and what advice the prime minister gives on that is between them, I don’t know what went on. But personally I don’t think we should have been rolling out the red carpet for Donald Trump.

We should be having meetings with the US government, the administration, as we always should, as we should with every other government in the world. We have to relate to other governments but you’ve got to be clear what you’re doing. Are we rolling out the red carpet uncritically or saying, hang on, there are issues where we fundamentally disagree?

He also particularly criticised what Trump said about Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London. Corbyn said:

It is quite without precedent and quite unreasonable the way Trump treats London and treats Sadiq Khan.

When a terrible incident happened... then surely you should recognise that the police and community have a job to do and what Sadiq has sought to do is bring people together in unity to keep London together, just as happened after 7/7 all those years ago.

The statement by Donald Trump condemning the mayor and then going on with a general condemnation of Muslim migration into the United States is not helpful, in fact is very dangerous to community relations, and I think the statement that Sadiq has made in response is very good.

The red carpet laid out for Donald Trump at Blenheim Palace last night.
The red carpet laid out for Donald Trump at Blenheim Palace last night. Photograph: Maja Smiejkowska/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Tens of thousands of people take part in a Stop Trump Coalition - Stop the War Protest against the US President Donald Trump in London.
Tens of thousands of people take part in a Stop Trump Coalition - Stop the War Protest against the US President Donald Trump in London. Photograph: Rick Findler/EPA

This is from Stefan Rousseau, the Press Association’s chief political photographer.

Hundreds of people have gathered at Belfast City Hall to protest against Donald Trump’s visit to the UK, the Press Asssociation reports. Many waved banners featuring anti-Trump messages, including “Belfast says no to Trump”. One Trump supporter who briefly heckled the start of the event was drowned out by the crowd chanting: “Hey ho, what’s the crack, Donald Trump don’t come back”.

A demonstrator holds a banner objecting to the visit of US President Donald Trump in Belfast.
A demonstrator holds a banner objecting to the visit of US President Donald Trump in Belfast. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

My colleague Peter Walker points out that Melania Trump’s press secretary says Donald Trump did predict the EU referendum result at Turnberry before the referendum, even though the fact that he arrived the day after is a matter of public record.

Sean Howey, 35, was wandering through the crowd shirtless, with an obscene message for Trump written on his chest. “I saw someone else do it and I grabbed an office marker pen and I did it myself,” he said.

It’s pretty bad that he’s been allowed to get this far. I don’t think that he’s properly been invited. Obviously I’m against the things he stands for: the racism, the bigotry, deporting people, separating children from their families ... a bunch of things really. He’s a meddler. He’s trying to meddle in our politics and telling us not to meddle in their [the US’s] politics.

Ruth Schleifer flew in from Colorado this morning just for the rally. She says she had breakfast and then came straight out.

Updated

Here is some Twitter comment on the press conference.

From the BBC’s Andrew Neil

From the Spectator’s James Forsyth

From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg

Soho’s finest are gathered on Great Windmill Street for the Soho Radio street party, showing their opposition to Donald Trump’s by raving to house music.

The party, which started at midday, is due to continue all day and features a stellar DJ line up, who have flown in from around the world and donated their time for free.

Their plan is to take the party mobile towards the end of the afternoon, with a special naughty surprise in store for the rally.

Party organiser DJ Gideön said:

When I found out Trump was coming my heart didn’t sink, I was delighted because obviously Friday 13th is a significant day. Everyone I know is appalled by Brexit, appalled by Trump, and appalled by the Tories.

Because I book five different stages at Glastonbury festival my little black book of famous DJs is relatively well endowed. I just texted all the crew I know and we’ve probably got £70,000 of DJ talent. They’ve flown themselves in from everywhere, from the states, from Scotland, from Berlin. We are on the streets to say: no fucking way. No to Brexit, no to Trump, no to Theresa May.

Simon Cross, 52, from Thame in Oxfordshire joined in the small demonstration outside Chequers at Butlers Cross. He said there were about 250 protestors and about 40 police officers in attendance.

It was very well organised, very good-natured and just fun. When Marine One flew over there was lots of booing and jeering. One man stood on the side of the road holding a placard with “Honk if you hate Trump” written on it. Not every car honked but about a third did. There was plenty of bonhomie between the protestors and the police. A lady was going around sharing flapjack to everyone.

It’s the first demonstration that Cross has been on. He said:

I think Trump is dangerous and he seems very destructive in his approach to relationships with everyone. I’ve reached the point when I believe he’s a destructive force for western democracy and I’ve decided to say ‘Not in my name.’

Updated

Tom Newton Dunn, the Sun political editor who interview Donald Trump, has posted this on Twitter to refute what the president said about his interview being “fake news”. (See 2.09pm.)

What Trump’s comment showed, among other things, is that he does not seem to read much beyond the headlines.

The BBC’s North America editor Jon Sopel has joined others in pointing out that what Donald Trump said about how he correctly predicted the EU referendum result accurately at Turnberry in advance (see 2.36pm) was not true.

Downing Street has just sent out this note about the gifts from Number 10 to the Trumps.

Gift from the prime minister to the president:

An illustrated ancestral chart of the Scottish heritage of President Trump through his mother, Mary Anne Macleod. She was born in 1912 on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides. The chart traces her family on both sides back three generations through official records and old parish registers. The family line goes back on the paternal side to the birth of President Trump’s great, great, great grandfather, Kenneth Macleod, born near Stornoway in 1776 – the year of the US declaration of independence.

The presentation is set against the background of the 19th century official ordnance survey map of the area, and also depicts scenes of Stornoway from later that century. The gift carries the crest of the Macleod clan and the Macleod tartan. President Trump is the first US president for over 100 years with a parent born in the UK. This gift underlines the deep historical links that many modern-day Americans have with the United Kingdom.

Gift from the Prime Minister and Mr May to Mrs Trump:

A bespoke perfume by J Floris Ltd. The fragrance is presented in a custom bottle engraved with the initials ‘MT’ and the scent is called the first lady. It comprises a number of elements with particular personal resonance, including: Sakura cherry Blossom, famed in Washington DC; rose heart for the National flower of the United States and England; and Bergamot with its distinctively British scent of Earl grey tea.

Established in 1730 by Juan Famenias Floris and his wife Elizabeth, Floris London is the oldest independent family perfumer in the world. The products are believed to have been used by Florence Nightingale, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana. The company is also Appointed Perfumer to Her Majesty the Queen.

Donald Trump and Theresa May during their joint press conference at Chequers.
Donald Trump and Theresa May during their joint press conference at Chequers. Photograph: Jack Taylor/PA

Here is some video of the protest in London.

We’ve been hearing more stories from readers making long journeys into London today.

Julie Bradford and her son Peter travelled from Morpeth in Northumberland to join the demonstration on Friday. She said:

We were outside Winfield House [the US ambassador’s residence in London] last night with my old football rattle to make some noise when Trump’s helicopter landed, and we’re at the main protest today. It’s a historic moment. The Western alliance is being dismantled, human rights are being trampled upon, immigrants are being demonised, and racism and misogyny are being normalised. It feels like we are sleepwalking into this. My son and I want to scream! At least make a stand.

Julie Bradford and her son Peter Kelly
Julie Bradford and her son Peter Kelly Photograph: Guardian

Retired civil servant Malcolm, 62, travelled from Bath to London today. He says:

I lived and worked in the US for three years from 1998, travelled extensively there and developed deep affection for the country and the (then) warmth and friendliness of the people.

I’m appalled at everything Trump espouses and has done, from the Muslim ban, withdrawal from Paris accord (along with removing environmental protections domestically), attacks on affordable care, on civil liberties, comments on race, women and LGBT people, and his inhuman treatment of refuge immigrants, including the caging of their children. The list is endless. He is a dangerous man and we must speak out. The UK should have nothing to do with him and tell him why.

Richard Willmott, 72, makes a similar journey from further southwest in Exeter. He says:

It’s important to register the country’s feelings towards Trump who is the greatest threat to world order and peace in my lifetime. It will send a message to like minded US citizens that they have worldwide support ahead of Midterm elections.

And Gaynor Thomassen, 54, from Ambleside, took a train from the Lakes to London to join the Together Against Trump protest. She says:

I’ll be taking trays of brownies to share and helping my friend to carry her knitted placard, which says “Knitters Against Trump”. The most powerful person in the world should not be a liar, a cheat, a sex pest, a racist, a bigot, a traitor, a hypocrite, an anti-environmentalist and a moron who lines his own pockets and those of his family and donors at the expense of his people and the planet.

You can continue to share your views and tell us what you are doing today here or via WhatsApp by adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.

Protestors hold banners during the anti-Trump march in London this afternoon.
Protestors hold banners during the anti-Trump march in London this afternoon. Photograph: Tim Ireland/AP

This is from YahooNews’s Hunter Walker on President Trump’s refusal to take a question from CNN. (See 2.30pm.)

There has been tension between different groups on the left, with some in the Together Against Trump camp urging the Women’s March Organisers to join their march.

But many protesters here said that while they supported - and may join in - both marches they wanted to be part of a women -led protest.

Hundreds of parents brought their children along, many of them just babes in arms.

Charlie Lewis was marching with her 6-month-old daughter Etta. “I’ve never been on a protest before but I felt I had to for her future,” she said. “I want her to always feel like she has a voice.”

Sam and Jemima Queen were marching with the their 7-month-old son Sidney. “We are marching for our children’s future and for the children Trump is separating from their parents,” said Jemima Queen.

Trump/May press conference - Snap verdict

President Trump has two gears - escalate and defuse. More often than not, he seems to operate in his unpredictable, stir-things-up mode (“the one thing I’ve learned about the press is that they’re always hungry for a good story, and the more sensational the better”, he wrote 31 years ago in The Art of the Deal), but he can do emollient and (mostly) that is what we had today. For Theresa May, it went about as well as can be expected.

The key thing is that Trump did not quibble when May firmly rejected the claim that her Chequers plan would make a UK-US trade deal impossible. This is crucial because of the totemic status this deal has amongst Brexiters. (See 9.04am.) Trump did not absolutely resile from what he told the Sun, and his “just make sure you can trade with us” line was telling, but the two leaders just about said enough to ensure that headlines about the UK-US trade deal being dead will disappear for now.

Trump did not back away from his Boris Johnson endorsement, and he was probably even clearer than he was in the Sun about how he thinks May should get tougher with the EU (by threatening to walk away, presumably) - the stance that Johnson so admires. This is significant because, if the Brexit talks stall during the autumn, May will come under increasing pressure to do exactly this, and Tory Brexiters who support this strategy will cite Trump as role model. But, on the plus side for May, Trump did lay on the personal praise for her with a trowel. (See 2.36pm.) No Western leader has a reputation for being less honest, and a lot of this sounded just like ritual compliments to a host, but Trump did not need to be quite that lavish in his praise and she will be grateful nonetheless. Perhaps he even meant some of it. He could have said a lot worse.

May is often a bit wooden at press conferences, but today she was reasonably good at pushing back against Trump politely but clearly. She repeatedly stressed the importance of Nato unity - implying that she was not impressed about the wrecking threats he issued in Brussels yesterday morning - and she absolutely refused to back what Trump said about immigration. (See 2.18pm.)

American readers are doubtless more familiar with Trump’s thoughts on foreigners. But, to a European ear, they are shocking. Trump effectively seemed to be saying immigrants are terrorists and (despite leading a country created by immigrants) he had nothing at all positive to say about immigration or diversity. It is hard to recall any prime minister standing alongside an ally making comments quite this extreme on British soil.

Updated

Trump says the Nord Stream pipeline is a “horrible thing”. He says he has been told Germany will get 60 or 70% of its energy from Russia. That is bad for Russia, he says.

May says the UK will make its views known at EU meetings.

She says Trump has made his views known. She says people will see what comes out after that meeting.

And that’s it.

Trump says he met two nice people from the Sun. When told that one is here, he asks him if he included the nice things he said about May. Told that the Sun did, he said where, on the internet? Told it was in the paper, he says it was not in the headline.

May says the UK has stood shoulder to shoulder with the US. She will show that even further with the trade relations it will put in place after Brexit.

Trump says nuclear proliferation will be a big issue in his talks with Putin.

He says he understands nuclear. His uncle John was a professor who dealt with nuclear. He spoke to him a lot.

He wants to do something to address this, he says.

He says it is hard dealing with Russia because people accuse him of being pro-Russia. He does not love Russia; he loves America. But he wants a good relationship with Russia.

He says he is not going into the meeting with “high expectations”. But “surprising things” may come out of it.

Q: Why can’t you persuade your MPs to back your Brexit plan?

May says she wants the UK to be able to have an independent trade policy, to be an independent member of the WTO.

She says she also wants a good trade relationship with the EU.

Q: How would you handled Brexit?

Trump says he was opening his golf course at Turnberry the day before Brexit. They asked if this would happen. He said it would happen.

He says most people did not agree with him.

He says May could do what he suggested. He says May is a “tough negotiator”, and “very smart, very tough, very capable woman”.

  • Trump says May is a “tough negotiator” and a “very smart, very tough, very capable woman”.

He would rather have her as his friend than his enemy.

Trump repeated the Turnberry story in his Sun interview. As my colleague Claire Phipps pointed out last night, what he said about the timing of his visit was not true.

Q: How would you advise Trump to handle his meeting with Putin?

May says they have been talking about that today. She says she advises him to go in from a position of strength and with unity around the Nato table.

Trump refuses to take a question from CNN. He says it is “fake news”. He takes a question from Fox News instead.

Q: How can you improve relations with Russia when they have illegally occupied another country?

Trump says that happened when Obama was president. He says he does not think Putin would have done that if Trump had been president. He says, if you look at what he has done, no other president has done so much. Crimea was an Obama disaster.

Q: How will you fix it?

Trump says, if he knew, he would not say so. But Crimea was another bad hand. He got handed North Korea. They have not had missile launches. He has got prisoners back. The process will take longer than he would like. But he is used to long process.

He is looking at Crimea, just as he is looking at other disasters that he inherited.

Trump says May found his advice on how to negotiate Brexit with the EU 'too brutal'

Q: Do you regret not taking Trump’s advice on Brexit?

May says many people give her advice. She says the two proposals from the EU on Brexit were unacceptable.

Q: How do you rate the special relationship?

Trump says he would give it “the highest grade of special”.

On Brexit, he gave May a suggestion, he says. He says he thinks May “found it too brutal”. He would describe it as a suggestion, not advice. He can see why May found it too tough. But maybe one day she will follow it. Look at how the EU has taken advantage of the US on trade.

  • Trump says May found his advice on how to negotiate Brexit with the EU “too brutal”.

Q: Was Trump right to say the Chequers plan is not the Brexit people voted for? And what do you think about what he said about Boris Johnson?

May says the plan does deliver what people voted for. She says the UK will be leaving the EU. There will be an end to spending billions on the EU every year. The UK will regain control of its borders and laws. It will be out of the common agricultural policy and the common fisheries policy.

May does not answer the Johnson question.

  • May insists her Chequers plan does implement the Brexit people voted for, contrary to what Trump claimed.

Trump says he said Johnson would be a great prime minister. But he says he also told the Sun this “incredible” woman is doing a great job. He has got to know May much better. Yesterday he had breakfast, lunch and dinner with her. She is doing a good job. Brexit is a tough job, he says.

He says his only ask is that she gives the US a fair deal on trade. He says the US gets a horrible deal on trade now. The EU has barriers beyond believe.

In response to a question about his stance on Russia, Trump accuses the reporter of false reporting. He says he wants a good relationship with Russia. It is a good thing that the US can get on with countries like Russia and China.

When the reporter defends her reporting, Trump says the other Nato countries are putting an extra $34bn into Nato. Russia is not happy about that, he says.

May refuses to back Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric

Q: What do you mean by saying immigration has damaged the cultural fabric of Europe?

Trump says it has been tough for Europe. You have seen the damage done by terrorism. It is changing the culture. It is a very negative thing for Europe.

He has a great relationship with Germany and Angela Merkel. But immigration has hurt the country. It is not politically correct to say so, but he will say it. It is a “very sad” situation. It is not good for Europe and not good for the US either, he says.

He says the US virtually doesn’t have immigration laws. He would not even call them laws, he says.

  • Trump says immigration has been “very negative” for Europe.
  • He says US immigration laws are so weak he would not even call them laws.

Q: Do you agree immigration has damaged the cultural fabric of Europe?

May says the UK has a proud history of accepting immigrants. What matters is that you have control, she says.

  • May refuses to back Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Q: What do you hope to achieve from your meeting with Putin?

Trump says he had a tremendous meeting at Nato. Most people reported it correctly. The Nato countries left it more unified and wealthier than every before.

He says he will talk about Ukraine, Syria, other parts of the Middle East and nuclear proliferation with Putin.

(Trump does not mention the Salisbury attack as an item he intends to raise with Putin.)

He says they will be talking about other things too, like Russian “meddling” in the US election. He does not think there will be a Perry Mason, “gee, I did it” confession. But he will raise it.

And he thinks May would support the US having a good relationship with Russia.

Q: Is there a benefit to the American people having troops in Europe?

It depends where they are. There is a psychological benefit and a military benefit, he says.

He says he is “fine” with the US commitment to Europe.

Trump claims Sun write-up of his interview was 'fake news' because it did not include his positive comments about May

May says there will be four questions each.

Q: [From the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg] You have changed your tune on trade. What you said about May, is that the behaviour of a friend?

Trump says he did not criticise the PM. He says a story was done that did not put in what he said about May. He says he records his interviews. The story was “fake news”.

  • Trump claims Sun write-up of his interview was “fake news” because it did not include his positive comments about May - even though the Sun report did include Trump’s pro-May comments.

Q: Was Trump right about a soft Brexit killing a US-UK trade deal?

No, says May. She says the UK will be able to do trade deals after Brexit under her plan.

  • May insists UK will be able to do a trade deal with US under her Chequers plan.

Updated

Trump says he will back whatever Brexit policy the government wants to pursue

Trump says border security is a national security problem. They have to stop terrorists crossing borders.

He thanks May for pursuing fair trade.

On Brexit, he says whatever the UK does is okay by him. He adds:

Just make sure you can trade with us.

  • Trump says he will back whatever Brexit policy the government wants to pursue.

Trump says he got to know May much better at last night’s dinner.

He was embarrassed for the rest of the table, because he spent the evening talking to May.

Updated

Trump says he and May have come from the Nato summit. It was a “truly productive summit”. He thanks May for supporting his efforts to get Nato countries to spend more on defence.

Only five reach the 2% of GDP target. That will go up, really fast, he says.

He thanks May for her support in efforts to get a nuclear-free North Korea.

And he says he wants the UK to support his efforts to keep Iran nuclear free.

He says the UK and the US are also strengthening cooperation between their armed forces. Today they saw some “incredible” demonstrations at Sandhurst by special forces. “Seamless” cooperation between their armed forces are vital, he says.

Donald Trump is speaking now. He says this is a magnificent setting to celebrate the special relationship. He thanks May for her “gracious” hospitality.

He says last night’s dinner was one that he will not easily forget.

And he says it is a pleasure to be at the historic Chequers, that he has heard so much about.

He says both countries are bound together by a commitment to freedom.

He says he and Melania had a tour of the Winston Churchill exhibit at Blenheim Palace. It was from Chequers that Churchill rang Roosevelt after Pearl Harbour.

May says in a partnership like this sometime you have to say things the other side does not want to hear.

But she does not pursue this, and moves on to talk about military cooperation.

She says it is the responsibility of all to ensure that transatlantic unity endures. It has US support at its heart.

(That sounds like a very, very mild reprimand to Trump for his anti-Nato rhetoric.)

May says she and Trump have agreed UK-US trade deal is possible after Brexit

Theresa May starts.

She says the military display they saw this morning was symbolic of the deep partnership between the US and the UK. It is the deepest in the world, and is set to grow. The two countries save lives together.

She says she welcomed US support against Russia after the Salisbury novichok poisoning.

She says they agreed to pursue an ambitious US-UK trade deal after Brexit. She says the Chequers plan will make this possible.

  • May says she and Trump have agreed UK-US trade deal is possible after Brexit.

Theresa May and Donald Trump are coming to the press conference. There is some hand-holding, because there are steps; Trump has a phobia of steps.

Updated

Politico’s Annie Karni has posted this quote on Twitter from Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK. He claims there was nothing new in what Trump told the Sun.

This is the first press conference that Donald Trump and Theresa May have held together since January 2017, when she managed to become the first foreign leader to meet Trump in the White House after his inauguration.

You can read our live blog coverage of it here.

That was the hand-holding press conference where Trump affirmed his commitment to Nato and May offered him a state visit to the UK.

At the time Number 10 thought it was all a great success, but since then relations between the pair have never seemed so cordial.

The Evening Standard has a clever headline.

Donald Trump and Theresa May hold their press conference

The press conference will start soon.

This is from ITV’s Robert Peston.

There is a live feed at the top of the blog.

There is lots of support for London mayor Sadiq Khan on the TrumpProtest.

Ruth Turner, a teacher from Tooting was marching with a banner reading: “London ️ [loves] Sadiq”.

“The mayor stands for all the values we think are important,” she said. “Londoners love the diversity of our city and Trump is an affront to that.”

Her friend Anne Howard said she thought numbers at the demonstration had been boosted by Trump’s “insulting behaviour” to Theresa May.

“To come to someone else’s country and be so unbelievably rude is unacceptable,” she said. “He was so patronising ‘I told her how to do Brexit but she didn’t listen’- like she is some little woman and not the prime minster. It sounds like so many men I’ve met in my life.”

Many protesters brought pots and pans and other kitchen implements to make noise during the march.

A man is selling “Donald Trump toilet paper” at Oxford Circus for £3 each or two for £5, the Press Association’s Catherine Wylie reports. It features a photo of the president.

My colleague David Smith’s analysis of Donald Trump’s Sun intervention is well worth reading. He thinks Trump will back down a bit at the press conference. Here is an excerpt.

It means that Trump and May’s engagements – a joint forces military demonstration, a working lunch at Chequers and a joint press conference – promise the height of social awkwardness. Watch for the handshake – always a tell with Trump.

Based on past, self-contradictory form, the president, when confronted by reporters, will probably seek to play down his negative comments about a bilateral trade deal, triggering a fresh set of headlines about how it might be back on.

May, meanwhile, standing before the media and live TV cameras, will face calls to emulate Hugh Grant’s prime minister in the 2003 film Love Actually, who informs the American president: “A friend who bullies us is no longer a friend. And since bullies only respond to strength, from now onward I will be prepared to be much stronger.”

Failing that, as Trump goes on to take tea with the Queen, the prime minister could always join the demonstrations on the streets of London. It seems she has nothing to lose.

This is probably the moment to post the Love Actually press conference scene - a glorious fantasy (the audience broke out into applause when I saw it in the cinema in 2003 - which should have been an early warning that Blair’s pro-Americanism was eventually going to cost him dear), but not one that any British leader in the last 15 years has been minded to emulate. The conventional diplomatic wisdom was and remains that slagging off your closest ally in public is probably not a good idea ...

The press conference scene from Love Actually

Miliband and Clegg to join anti-Trump demonstration

Ed Miliband, who was the Labour leader from 2010 until 2015, says he will be on the anti-Trump demonstration this afternoon.

He has also drafted a script for Theresa May to use at her press conference, which is due to start in just over half an hour.

Yesterday Nick Clegg, who was Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister in the coalition government from 2010 to 2015, is also taking part in the demonstration. He tweeted these yesterday.

If you like military bands, this speeded-up video of the Massed Bands of the Household Division performing for President Trump at Blenheim Palace last night is quite fun.

Readers have also been sharing pictures of demonstrations and their preparations.

Torz Dallison sent this image of Nel, who she met at Victoria station this morning. Dallison, a documentary photographer who has until recently been living in New York, said: “I believe we have to stand up to what Trump represents so today I march for immigrants, refugees, feminists, our earth and humanity.”

Nel, at Victoria station.
Nel, at Victoria station, London. Photograph: Torz Dallison

Judith Longman sent this next image of a protestor with her own mini Trump blimp during a demonstration at Blenheim. “It was an amazing vibrant atmosphere,” she says. “Peaceful but very, very angry. I joined because I fear the encroachment of fascist and authoritarian ideologies and governments and Trump is prepared to destroy everything we hold of value in our democracies.”

Protestor at Blenheim.
Protestor at Blenheim. Photograph: Judith Longman

Derek Middlemiss, from Newark, perhaps points to some of the good humour expected to be on display around the country, though there is a serious message: “Trump is a danger to the world,” he said.

Derek Middlemiss
‘Enough said’ Photograph: Derek Middlemiss

Edith, six, from Mossley, Greater Manchester, helped her mum Eleanor make this banner, which the pair are taking to London today: “Edith hears the radio playing at home so I often explain bits of Trump news to her. The separation of families at the US border particularly troubled her. I asked her if she wanted to make her feelings known about this and she said yes. So she made a placard, has her walking boots on and is ready to resist.”

Eleanor and Edith’s banner.
Eleanor and Edith’s banner. Photograph: Eleanor/GuardianWitness

Share your pictures here or via WhatsApp by adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.

Updated

This is from HuffPost’s Owen Bennett.

Protestors wearing Donald Trump and Theresa May paper mache heads join the protest in Butler’s Cross, close to the prime minister’s country residence of Chequers.
Protestors wearing Donald Trump and Theresa May paper mache heads join the protest in Butler’s Cross, close to the prime minister’s country residence of Chequers. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

The sun is shining and the anti-Trump protesters are out in force for the first leg of what protesters are calling a “carnival of resistance”.

Huge numbers have turned up for an anti-Trump march organised by Women’s March London.

They set off singing “We are family, I’ve got all my sisters with me” calling for protesters to “bring the noise”.

Thousands replied by dancing, blowing whistles and banging drums while opera singers performed for the crowds. In the carnival atmosphere people held aloft banners which ranged from combative to comical. “Keep your tiny hands off our NHS” read one. “My mum doesn’t like you and she likes everyone,” said another.

Dawn Hitchen, 49 who had travelled with her daughters from Sussex said:

It’s incredible to us that so much power can be concentrated in the hands of one man who is so uniquely unqualified. He is not competent.

Ruth Hunt, chief executive of LGBT+ rights charity Stonewall said its representatives were out in force. She said:

One of the first things Trump did was ban trans people in the military. We are often the canary in the coal mine so we are here to say not in our name.

We are here, we are queer and we are not going away.

The Financial Times columnist Robert Shrimsley has a good take on Donald Trump’s trade policy intervention.

Some poor Press Association reporter has had to file copy on Melania Trump playing bowls with Philip May. She is trying valiantly to make it interesting. Here is how it starts ...

First Lady Melania Trump has played bowls with the prime minister’s husband.

Mrs Trump, 48, joined Philip May, 60, at the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London where she met Chelsea pensioners and local children.

The first lady was wearing a sleeveless dress with wide coloured panels, and towering heels with a red sole which appeared to be by Christian Louboutin.

Accredited members of the press were advised to wear flat shoes to the event, but Mrs Trump’s heels did not stop her from walking on to the bowling green and taking part in the game.

She bowled four times, and smiled as though she was enjoying the activity, while the light breeze blew her hair back from her face.

After one of her bowling attempts, Mrs Trump initiated a high five with a Chelsea pensioner after he gave her effort the thumbs up.

There is a lot more, but you get the picture ...

Updated

More messages from readers are flowing in via our callout, with many of you telling us you’re attending demonstrations away from the national march in London.

Kate will be joining a demonstration in Sheffield later this afternoon with her five-year-old son. She says:

I try and teach my children compassion, honesty, respect and integrity – I’ll be marching because one of the most important people in the world, and a supposed role model, ignores all of that and expects to go unchallenged. My five year old is too young to understand immigration policy, party politics or international relations, and I won’t be telling him Donald Trump is evil or anything like that. But I have told him that lots of people think Trump is a bully, and if my little boy can experience thousands of people standing up to a bully I think that will be an invaluable lesson.

Ann Dunn, 67, from Midlothian, is joining a march in Edinburgh. She says:

Trump is an easy target to poke fun at, but he’s a dangerous man. He’s ignorant, intolerant, greedy and powerful and that makes him a serious threat to our democracy. He’s treating world trade as if he’s sitting in the boardroom and he doesn’t understand or care that democratic governments don’t work that way. I have to stand up and be counted. This presidency will end in tears and I want to be able to say I did something, however small. My banner will say “your mother would be disappointed in you”.

Also in Scotland is Mary Melnyk, 63, a joint Canadian/UK citizen living in Glasgow. She says:

I’ll be at the protest here because of Trump’s demeaning tactics, his mocking of disabled people, treatment of gays in the military and of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers, and because of his lies and his misogynist and racist rants. How can he be an ally when his own country is being destroyed by his actions and he is blaming everyone else? If Syria or North Korea’s leaders were to visit, I would do the same. He is deserving of the protests and the blimp and should, on a humanitarian level, look at his past and present actions as a president to understand why this is being done.

John Kerridge, 57, and his wife Kamaljit Poonia were on an anti-Trump march in Bristol yesterday and taking part in activities there today. He says:

It’s important to take part because if you stand on the sideline, you’re part of the problem. I want my children and young people everywhere to get a better life. I was part of Rock against Racism in the 70s and 80s, and I don’t want this sort of populist politics. There were 5-6,000 people marching in Bristol city centre on Thursday and it was absolutely beautiful to see the faces of the Muslim community, who were going about their business, seeing mainly white protestors with their anti-fascist and anti-racist banners. You could see on their faces that they felt they weren’t alone.

You can continue to share your views and tell us what you are doing today here or via WhatsApp by adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.

BBC News has now broadcast a longer, and more audible clip of what Theresa May and Donald Trump were saying in their first photocall at Chequers. (It was a “greeting spray”, to use the American press terminology.)

May said that President Trump did “a very good job” at Nato in encouraging other member states to up their military spending. Describing the talks coming up, she said:

We have got a lot to discuss. We are going to be discussing the special relationship, which is great, between the UK and US. We are going to be discussing the real opportunities we have got to have this trade deal coming up when we leave the European Union. And of course we will discuss foreign policy and defence and security issues, where we work really closely together with the US.

Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to London, seems surprised to find copies of the Big Issue, the magazine sold by rough sleepers to help them make money, on the table at Chequers.

This is from Anthony Gardner, who was US ambassador to the EU under the Obama administration.

Gardner is wrong about this being a state visit, though; this is a working visit. Trump has been offered a full state visit, but my colleague Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, thinks it will never materialise.

One fascinating detail in Paul Waugh’s Huffington Post piece about Donald Trump’s negotiating strategy is his hatred for Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon.
Waugh quotes one former staffer who says that Trump frequently takes up time on the phone to Theresa May “bitching about Sturgeon”. The staffer says:

He totally hates Nicola Sturgeon. He spends lots of his time bitching about Sturgeon. He loathes Salmond too. But why spend so much time talking about Sturgeon in a phone call with Theresa May?

Sturgeon has made no secret of her feelings about Trump, in particular condemning his misogyny and Islamophobia. Despite an initially friendly relationship, Trump fell out badly with Sturgeon’s predecessor Alex Salmond over the building of his Aberdeenshire golf resort.

Earlier on Twitter, Tricia Marwick, a former presiding officer of the Scottish parliament and a close ally of Sturgeon’s, said what everyone else was thinking.

And this is from Angus Robertson, the SNP’s former deputy leader.

Meanwhile, Sturgeon is putting her free Saturday – since Trump has not asked to meet her – to good use. She’ll be leading the Pride Glasgow march, becoming the first serving first or prime minister to march for LGBTI rights. More than 8,000 marchers and more than 50,000 spectators are expected, although that number may be slightly diminished given the draw of the anti-Trump demos planned in Edinburgh and Turnberry. It’s going to be a busy weekend ...

Updated

This is from the White House pool reporter’s report, about who is with Trump at Chequers.

And here’s a list of senior aides seated to Trump’s right

Ambassador Woody Johnson

Chief of staff John Kelly

National security adviser John Bolton

Press secretary Sarah Sanders

Adviser Stephen Miller

NSA adviser Fiona Hill

UPDATE: Trump’s Fiona Hill is not the one who used to work for Theresa May and who virtually ran the country until forced resign after the 2017 general election.

Updated

Here’s a live feed from the sky of the anti-Trump protesters if you want to watch the build-up.

This is due to be live until 12.30pm.

Aerial live feed of Trump protests

Sometimes it is a mistake to try reading too much into body language and facial expressions (even though it can be all you have to go on at time), but it is hard not to conclude from the pictures of Donald Trump and Theresa May at Chequers that she is none-too-pleased. This is not the full weapons-grade death stare that May is famous for, but it is not far off.

US President Donald Trump and Theresa May at Chequers in Buckinghamshire
US President Donald Trump and Theresa May at Chequers in Buckinghamshire Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

For our American readers, Chequers is the prime minister’s official country residence. It’s our version of Camp David, only nicer, I think. (I’ve never been, but I’m told the accommodation at Camp David is a bit functional.) It was given to the government after the first world war by a wealth benefactor who thought the prime minister needed a proper country pile “for rest and recreation”. In the 19th century British prime ministers tended to be aristocrats with their own country mansions, but by the 20th century the premiership was opening up to the middle classes and these hard-pressed arrivistes did not have vast estates in the country. Chequers means the British prime minister, at last at weekends, can always live like a toff.

Updated

Trump says UK-US relationship is 'very, very strong'

BBC News have just broadcast a clip of President Trump and Theresa May together posting for photographs at Chequers. Trump said:

It’s a very, very productive two days. We arrived here last night. We had a dinner where I think we probably never developed a better relationship than last night. We spoke for an hour or an hour and a half. And it was really something.

And today we’re talking trade, we’re talking military. We looked at some incredible anti-terrorism things that are being done here in conjunction with the United States.

And the relationship is very, very strong. We have a very good relationship. We will do a news conference in a little while and we will answer your questions then. Right now, we’re going to be talking about some other things that are taking place in the Middle East and elsewhere.

A reporter asked a question about the Sun article, but Trump did not reply.

Updated

At the Number 10 lobby briefing the prime minister’s spokesperson chose not to directly contradict what President Trump told the Sun about a possible trade deal, my colleague Peter Walker reports.

Donald Trump told reporters as he landed at Chequers that he and Theresa May had “probably never developed a better relationship” than during last night’s dinner at Blenheim. The pair are expected to talk now about trade and security, and emerge for a press conference in the garden at 1.45pm.

Donald Trump arrives at Chequers
Donald Trump arrives at Chequers Photograph: Hannah Mckay/Reuters

The BBC’s diplomatic correspondent James Landale says President Trump is expected to revise his thoughts on the viability of a UK-US trade deal when he speaks at the press conference later.

Trump arrives at Chequers

President Trump has arrived at Chequers. These are from CBS’s Mark Knoller.

Bleary-eyed political correspondents were told to arrive at Lancaster House this morning at 6am, almost eight hours before the press conference was due to start at Chequers, the prime minister’s country retreat in Buckinghamshire, just an hour’s drive away.

The reason given was the tight US security, reporters were scanned and then travelled on buses to the country house, at the insistence that the press arrive ahead of Trump. Outside, police have come from as far away as Staffordshire.

In the walled garden, a temporary media village in a marquee has been set up for the parliamentary lobby and the White House press corps. Reporters are here from all the major US networks and papers, as well as agencies and channels from all over the world, with hours to wait in the sunshine before the president has finished his bilateral talks with May.

On the big screen TV in the marquee, the news channel is playing Trump’s damning quotes about May on loud repeat, background noise that can’t be helping the nerves of the Downing Street staffers.

Updated

There were cheers as the Trump baby blimp – a six-metre tall inflatable with small hands, a tiny mobile phone and a giant nappy – took to the air in Parliament Square on Friday morning, as a day of protest against the sitting US president got underway with a smile.

The giant inflatable took to the air at precisely 9.30am outside the Palace of Westminster, after campaigners raised more than £29,000 to pay for it and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, gave permission for it to fly.

Hundreds of protesters and curiously tourists cheered as the blimp took to the air, ushered by the “Trump babysitters” – protesters who came together to take the inflatable protest to the skies.

Around 15 minutes earlier there was excitement on the ground as two military helicopters passed overhead - while the blimp was fully inflated but moored to the ground. “Quick turn him around, turn him around,” went up the cry, but organisers said he wasn’t allowed to take to the air before 9.30am. If Trump had been in the helicopter and looking out of the window, he might have caught a glance of the behind of the baby blimp.

Sheila Menon, one of the “Trump babysitters” said that the humorous protest was the perfect antidote to the misery created by Trump. “For me this is British political satire at it’s finest,” said Menon. “You can’t dismiss this as childish or offensive - it is a creative, safe and non-violent way to make a real political statement and hold oppressors to account.”

As the blimp went up an American thanked one of the organisers saying, “As an American it means so much to us that you have done this, thank you so much.”

Updated

Philip May, the prime minister’s husband, is entertaining Melania Trump, the first lady. He has been taking her to meet Chelsea Pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Melania Trump and Philip May arrive at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London.
Melania Trump and Philip May arrive at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London. Photograph: Luca Bruno/PA
Philip May watches as Melania Trump helps children to make poppies as she meets British military veterans known as “Chelsea Pensioners”
Philip May watches as Melania Trump helps children to make poppies as she meets British military veterans known as “Chelsea Pensioners” Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP
Melania Trump and Philip May at Royal Hospital Chelsea.
Melania Trump and Philip May at Royal Hospital Chelsea. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

And there is good advice for her husband here.

Melania Trump at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
Melania Trump at the Royal Hospital Chelsea Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Updated

President Trump’s visit to Sandhurst is over, the White House pool report says.

After about 30 minute minute hold your pool has been loaded back into the ospreys and ready to lift.

Your pool did not glimpse POTUS while he was here, or view his first greeting of the day with PM May, and we do not have further readout on what he did.

Onward to Chequers, PM May’s retreat, where the pair have a bilat, working lunch and press conference scheduled.

A bilat is a bilateral, although, according to the BBC this morning, just 10 minutes has been set aside for President Trump and Theresa May to speak one-to-one.

The relationship between the two is formal and rather strained (it certainly will be today), not warm. The Telegraph’s Ben Riley-Smith wrote a good long read about it last month. Here’s an excerpt.

Those in the White House then recall thinking there was ‘nothing impressive’ about the prime minister and that the leaders had failed to hit it off. ‘Everything to Trump is personal,’ explains Steve Bannon, the White House chief strategist at the time, who sat in on the meetings. ‘For him and May there was no click, there was no chemistry. May just does not have the charisma. That’s not her fault, you’ve either got it or you don’t.’

That first impression has altered little. The pair have met and talked dozens of times since then, without a spark. They talk with professional courtesy. There are no blazing rows. But the warmth seen between some of their predecessors is simply absent.

Trump has grown frustrated by the prime minister’s ‘schoolmistress’ manner.

In his Sun interview this morning Trump was asked about a report in the Washington Post saying he sees May as a “bossy schoolteacher”. It was “fake news”, he said. He went on:

I never said anything bad about her ... I think she is a nice person. I get along with her very nicely.

My colleague John Domokos is travelling with #manchesterqueens Verry Cherry, Beyoncé Holes, Anna Phylactic and Liquorice Black to the protest in London this morning. In this video they explain how they are feeling ahead of the march.

Readers around the UK have been sharing the ways they are marking Trump’s visit via our callout. Some are joining demonstrations around the country, with many, such as LG Godwin, 45, a professor of theatre history from Virginia, USA, but visiting the UK this month, doing so for the first time:

I’ll be at the march in London as I want to stand up against everything Trump is and does, to show friends known and unknown in the UK that Trump doesn’t speak for most Americans, and to represent my promise to the world that I’ll work hard at home towards defeating Trump and the danger he represents to all of us. I’m also hoping to extend some transatlantic friendship to counter the constant stream of insults that emanate from what passes for my government.

Molly, 25, from Essex, is also at her first demonstration, having booked a day off work with her boyfriend. She says:

I’m here in solidarity with all of the people across the word who are suffering at the hands of Trump’s policies, ideology, and rhetoric. It disgusts me that a man like Trump who exhibits such racism, misogyny, Islamophobia, fear-mongering, transphobia, homophobia, etc, should be in such an important political position and the fact he is is very damning of our society.

I also want to send a message to Theresa May that she needs to be careful when agreeing a trade deal with Trump. I do not want our food standards or NHS to suffer at the hands of a trade deal with the US there only to make herself or her party look better.

Lesley Archibald, 79, from Bridport in Dorset, is another.

After nearly 80 years and a lifelong deep concern about political matters, this is the first time I’ve actually taken part in any demonstration (I’ll be joining the demo in Bournemouth on Saturday). I’m outraged by Trump’s attacks on human rights and the rule of law and feel deeply insulted, and ashamed of my country, by the invitation to him to visit. This morning’s news of the Sun interview has made me even more determined to stand up to be counted. How dare he try to wreck our democracy as he’s wrecking America’s?

You can continue to share your views and tell us what you are doing today here or via WhatsApp by adding the contact +44(0)7867825056.

Updated

The Labour MP Wes Streeting says the Queen should cancel her invitation to President Trump in the light of his Sun interview.

A Boris Johnson lookalike stands next to a person in a cage wearing a money suit and a mask of US President Donald Trump at the Parliament Square anti-Trump protest.
A Boris Johnson lookalike stands next to a person in a cage wearing a money suit and a mask of US President Donald Trump at the Parliament Square anti-Trump protest. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party leader, has posted this video on Twitter about President Trump.

This shows where anti and pro-Trump marches are taking place in London today and tomorrow.

Where anti and pro-Trump marches are taking place in London
Where anti and pro-Trump marches are taking place in London

Iain Duncan Smith claims Trump's trade deal comment 'just a statement of fact'

Some Brexiters have claimed Tory former minister Iain Duncan Smith was behind Trump’s outburst, because he met the president’s national security adviser John Bolton on his recent trip to London, and spelled out his reservations about the prime minister’s approach.

Duncan Smith confirmed to the Guardian that he met Bolton - the pair have known each other for more than two decades - but denied that that conversation was the source of Trump’s intervention. He said:

I suspect what’s really happened is his trade secretary has spoken to him. Both the Democrats and the Republicans want a trade deal; the trade secretary wants it; Trump has said he wants it; and then this white paper makes it quite difficult to do.

Duncan Smith declined to criticise Trump’s stance, saying: “His statement is just a statement of fact”. He added: “It’s Trump; he’s not a diplomat - he doesn’t agree with diplomacy”.

Donald Trump kept the other guests waiting for dinner last night with an lengthy unscheduled tour of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire’s council leader Ian Hudspeth tells the Oxford Mail. Hudspeth says:

The president went for a tour around the Churchill exhibition which lasted a lot longer than expected. I don’t know how long it was, he was clearly very interested, but the chefs did a fantastic job making sure the food still went out properly.

Here is the latest from the White House press corps pool reporter covering President Trump. Trump has arrived at Sandhurst.

POTUS was wheels down at 9:32 and was greeted by prime minister May here, Hogan Gidley has told the pool.

Your pooler has requested a readout of what specifically POTUS will be doing while he is here, but at the very least he’s slated to view a joint military exercise.

Pool is holding for what we are told will be about 30 minutes. Some color on the academy, known as “The Home of the British Army Officer”: At any time up to 600 cadets are undergoing training. It was bombed in 1941. Women were first admitted in 1982.

Today’s demonstration will include American and British officers.

Culture minister Margot James says Trump wrong about Boris Johnson

Margot James, a culture minister, has gone public to say Donald Trump is wrong about Boris Johnson.

This is what Trump said about Johnson in his interview.

I have a lot of respect for Boris. He obviously likes me, and says very good things about me.

I was very saddened to see he was leaving government and I hope he goes back in at some point.

I think he is a great representative for your country ...

I think he would be a great prime minister. I think he’s got what it takes.

Trump has had only minimal face-to-face dealings with Johnson, and so it is not as if they are good friends. But Trump will have noticed that, when he was foreign secretary, Johnson was one of the few government ministers with a good word to say for the American president. After Trump’s election in 2016 (in a verdict that hasn’t really survived the test of time) Johnson described him as “in many aspects a liberal guy from New York”. And only last month Johnson said he was “increasingly admiring” of Trump.

Boris Johnson and Donald Trump meet at the UN HQ in September 2017.
Boris Johnson and Donald Trump meet at the UN HQ in September 2017. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Here are some pictures from the anti-Trump protest in Parliament Square.

A balloon portraying US President Donald Trump as a baby is attached to a man’s rucksack during a protest in Parliament Square
A balloon portraying US President Donald Trump as a baby is attached to a man’s rucksack during a protest in Parliament Square. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
A protester in Parliament Square
A protester in Parliament Square Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/REX/Shutterstock

Trump's behaviour 'outrageous', says former Foreign Office chief

This is from Simon Fraser, a former permanent secretary at the Foreign Office.

For American friends who may be reading the blog today, it may be worth pointing out that the permanent secretary is the official in charge, not a long-serving typist.

If Fraser, who left the Foreign Office in 2015 thinks this, it is probably safe to assume that many of the senior officials at the Foreign Office (who aren’t allowed to say things like this in public) probably think the same too.

Updated

When the American president travels, a pool reporter from the White House press corps is always with him, filing a pool report for the press generally. These describe what he is doing in minute-by-minute detail. Some of the information is quite mundane, but in the light of the huge interest in Trump, I will be quoting them today. Here is the one about Trump leaving the US embassy.

POTUS. is accompanied by aides including John Kelly, John Bolton and Stephen Miller for at least this portion of the trip. The aides boarded another chopper as Woody Johnson, US ambassador to Britain, lifted off with POTUS in in Marine One at 9:01 am.

Before boarding, POTUS paused before your pool, pointed to the pool, fiddled with his suit jacket, and did a fist pump or two.

Protests are planned throughout the day in London, but near Winfield House there were scant signs of protest — save for a lone sign near a security checkpoint that read, “Anyone can be president, but should they be?”

POTUS, of course, is the president of the United States.

It is unusual for an American president to be quite this reliant on helicopter travel when visiting London. It is faintly reminiscent of how prime ministers has to travel around by helicopter when visiting a country like Afghanistan to protect them from the hostile local population ...

The blimp portraying US President Donald Trump flying above Parliament Square.
The blimp portraying US President Donald Trump flying above Parliament Square. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters

Universities minister Sam Gyimah accuses Trump of being rude

This is from Sam Gyimah, the universities minister.

  • Universities minister accuses Trump of being rude.

Gyimah has got form when he comes to speaking out against Trump. When the American authorities were separating suspect illegal immigrants from their children, and the government was criticising this, but in relatively muted terms, Gyimah was more outspoken than almost any other minister. He said the policy was “indefensible”.

Philip Hammond, the chancellor, is in Brussels. Asked about President Trump’s trade deal tirade (see 9.04am), he essentially adopted the same line as Alan Duncan. Once Trump has had a briefing on the white paper, it will all be different, he implied.

This is from Bloomberg’s Nikos Chrysoloras.

And these are from my colleague Alexandra Topping who is in Parliament Square where the other Trump, the “blimp”, is about to take off.

Here’s video from Guardian journalist Maeve Shearlaw who is also in Parliament Square

Updated

President Trump has left Winfield House, the US ambassador’s residence in London where he stayed the night, by helicopter on his way to Sandhurst, where he will watch a military display with Theresa May. This is from Bloomberg’s Justin Sink.

We’d like to hear from readers who are taking part in events - protests, or perhaps something else - to mark President Trump’s visit. The details, including an online form for you to fill in, are here.

Trump wrong to say May's Brexit plan will 'kill' UK-US trade deal, says Foreign Office

Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, taking over from Mattha.

There was a lot of provocative material in Donald Trump’s Sun interview, but the key line was what he said about Theresa May’s plans for a relatively soft Brexit killing off hopes of a UK-US trade deal. For Brexiters, the proposed UK-US trade deal is totemic; they accept that Brexit will damage trade links with the EU, but they believe that it is worth it because of the huge benefits the UK will reap from other trade deals, exemplified by the one with Washington.

Trump said now it won’t happen. He told the Sun:

If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the U.K., so it will probably kill the deal … I would say that that would probably end a major trade relationship with the United States.

But Sir Alan Duncan, a Foreign Office minister, told the Today programme that Trump was wrong. First he said when Trump was speaking he did not know all the details of the Brexit white paper. He said:

Actually, events have move on somewhat, because even as [Trump] was giving that interview, the white paper was being published in London. And so now that the details of the white paper are clear, the president and the prime minister will be able to discuss this in more detail at Chequers today, with more information then he might have had in Brussels.

When it was put to Duncan directly that Trump said May’s plans would “kill” the trade deal, he replied:

I don’t think that’s the case. And I think the mood last night at the Blenheim dinner was just so fantastically positive, and it did indeed focus a lot on trade. We actually have more UK investment going into the US than all of Germany and France put together, a considerable multiple of the amount put in by the Chinese, and once we have our agreement with the EU in place, I’m confident that there will be the latitude and the ability to do a significant trade deal with the United States.

Even though Trump says no, Today’s Justin Webb asked. Duncan replied:

The white paper has been published since. I’m confident it will happen, and that the trade between our two countries is so important that it will be in our mutual interests to have a trade deal between the US and the UK.

Sir Alan Duncan (right), the Foreign Office minister at the Blenheim Palace gala dinner for President Trump last night.
Sir Alan Duncan (right), the Foreign Office minister at the Blenheim Palace gala dinner for President Trump last night. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Updated

Alan Duncan, the foreign office minister, was asked on the Today programme whether the government was given any warning of President Trump’s interview in The Sun:

Probably not, but its in the nature of these fast moving events when you’ve got the NATO summit in Brussels and then his visit here that there will be interviews of this sort.

Updated

On whether he ought to put his own views aside in order to forge a close relationship with the most powerful man in the world, since that would apparently be in the interests of the City and the UK, Khan said:

Yesterday morning, I was speaking at a conference of an American company whose European headquarters are in London, I spend a lot of my time encouraging Americans to invest in London and to come here as tourists and to study here. I’m really proud that we’re able to do so.

But look, tomorrow I understand there is a big demonstrations taking place of the extreme far right.

Now, as you’d imagine, I disagree their views as well but the idea that we allow them to protest shouldn’t mean I endorse their views and its an example of living in a democracy.

Tomorrow I understand they’ll also be a pro-Trump demonstration, I’m not banning that either!

The interviewer went on to press Khan on allowing protests to go ahead, to which he demurred:

The idea that a country that has written constitution that actually enshrines freedom of speech, freedom to assemble.

The founding fathers, if you read some of Jefferson’s and Frankin’s speeches, talk about this all the time.

The idea that anybody who understands American history would be offended by her closest ally actually practicing the principles in the US constitution, we indeed ourselves have an unwritten constitution, common law, and also other parts of our constitution that talk about freedom of speech.

The idea that we would would park our rights, and privileges and freedoms because it may cause offence to a US president, I think people in London and the UK would find that objectionable as indeed would Americans.

Khan went on to criticise Trump for linking a rise in crime to migrants: “To blame this on immigration from Africa is preposterous and we should call him out when he does so.”

The interviewer cites the article Sadiq Khan wrote in the Evening Standard yesterday where she says he in effect compares the views of Donald Trump to those of the Nazis.

Politics, ideas and views that we thought were rejected and defeated after the Second World War — in large part due to the leadership and sacrifices of the US — have resurfaced and are creeping back into the political mainstream. This includes hatred of those who are different and the deliberate stoking of people’s basest fears and insecurities, instead of trying to address them; a constant focus on that which divides us, rather than that which unites us; and the awful scapegoating of some of the most vulnerable people in our societies. This offends many Londoners.

In the interview, after being read back of the above passage, Khan said:

What I said was actually we need to be careful about the rise of narrow populist movements across not just Europe, but across the world.

Look what’s happened in Hungary, look what’s happened in Italy, look at some of the views espoused by the current president of the USA.

One of the great things about our special relationship is the history of not just government to government ties but people to people ties and as Mayor of London I am proud that we have Americans here contributing economically, socially and culturally.

He added that some of the people protesting today will be Americans. “That’s the great thing about living in a democracy,” he said.

You can read his full article in the Evening Standard here.

Updated

There’s a tradition of being hospitable to world leaders, the interviewer says, referring to Trump’s comments about feeling unwelcome and suggesting it is not in the British national interest to displease the president.

“We’ve got a rich history of having a sense of humour in this country as well and my point about today’s protests is that they should be peaceful and good spirited,” Khan said.

“What is important to recognise is that there are some who seek to divide Londoners and divide communities but I hope today isn’t about that.”

Updated

Sadiq Khan: 'Can you imagine if we limited freedom of speech because somebody’s feelings might be hurt?'

Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme. The interviewer has asked him why he allowed the Trump blimp to be flown across London, to which he responded:

The UK like in fact the US has a long and rich history of the rights and the freedoms to protest, the freedom of speech, the freedom to assemble.

Can you imagine if we limited freedom of speech because somebody’s feelings might be hurt?

UPDATE: Here is some video of Khan replying to Trump.

Updated

Nigel Farage, the first British politician to have met Trump following his unlikely victory in 2016, was questioned on whether he had “wound up” Trump about Brexit on BBC’s This Week last night.

The former Ukip leader said: “We’ve had the odd chat about it, I like to have a chat with them (Team Trump).”

Presenter Andrew Neil said Mr Farage’s hand “was all over the article” in The Sun, to which the MEP said: “Oh, on balance they’re probably more Eurosceptic than I am.”

“If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal,” Trump told The Sun, following the emergence of actual details regarding Theresa May’s Brexit plan this week.

“If they do that, then their trade deal with the US will probably not be made.”

It was unclear who had briefed the President, who is infamously reluctant to read, on the particulars of the Brexit white paper.

Updated

Good morning, I’m Mattha Busby and I’ll be taking over from my colleague Kate Lyons.

If you’re just waking up, Donald has done it again. In frank remarks made to The Sun (there’s audio, too), he criticised Theresa May’s Brexit strategy - which he said would “kill the prospects of a trade deal” – and backed Boris for No 10.

He also accused Sadiq Khan of being weak on terrorism and said mass immigration is causing the whole of Europe to “[lose] its culture”.

The backlash to his comments, which were made public during a banquet in his honour last night, has been intensifying throughout the morning. Following comments from Emily Thornberry, who came to the defence of the prime minister, the Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said Trump was “determined to insult” May.

“The divisive, dog-whistle rhetoric in his TheSun interview is repulsive,” the MP for Totnes said. “If signing up to the Trump world view is the price of a deal, it’s not worth paying.”

Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West tweeted: “Well this has gone well then. What a humiliating week for Britain (excluding the valiant efforts of our football team!).

Rupa Huq, MP for Central Ealing and Acton said the president’s comments were Islamophobic. “A dash of Islamophobia lobbed at Sadiq Khan who he blames for terrorism. Awful stuff.”

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @MatthaBusby.

Updated

Labour MP Anna Turley has questioned whether the US president should now be allowed to meet the Queen during his visit. He is due to take tea with her at Windsor Castle this afternoon.

“Trump is a racist and disrespects our nation. Why does he get to meet our Queen? And those Tories saying we should respect him simply because he is elected president – by that logic shouldn’t he respect our prime minister and London’s mayor?” tweeted the MP for Redcar.

People are having fun with the sorts of excuses that the queen might offer to get out of her meeting with the president, chief among them bone spurs, Trump’s reason for deferring military service in Vietnam.

Updated

The Mail also carries the Sun’s interview on its front page.

Mail front page, Friday 13 July

Updated

Labour urges May to stand up to 'extraordinarily rude' Trump

Emily Thornberry said Trump’s comments were “rudeness upon rudeness upon rudeness”.
Emily Thornberry. Photograph: Matthew Chattle/Barcroft Images

Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, has defended Theresa May, saying it was “extraordinarily rude of Donald Trump to behave like this”.

“She is his host. What did his mother teach him? This is not the way you behave,” she told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

Thornberry said Trump’s comments on the prime minister’s Brexit strategy and his suggestion Johnson would be a “great prime minister” were “rudeness upon rudeness upon rudeness”.

However, her sympathy for the PM was not unqualified. The Labour MP said:

You need to stand up to him. She is letting down our country by not standing up to him.”

Updated

Here’s the Daily Mirror’s front page. We have a full round-up of the front pages here.

Mirror front page, Friday 13 July
Mirror front page, Friday 13 July Photograph: Mirror

Most newspapers carry Trump’s comments – given in an interview with the Sun – on their front pages. Here’s the Guardian’s take:

Guardian front page, Friday 13 July

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sandersissued a statement saying Trump thinks Theresa May “is a very good person”.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders
issued a statement saying Trump thinks Theresa May “is a very good person”. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has issued a response to questions about President Trump’s interview with the Sun:

The president likes and respects prime minister May very much. As he said in his interview with the Sun she ‘is a very good person’ and he ‘never said anything bad about her’. He thought she was great on Nato today and is a really terrific person. He is thankful for the wonderful welcome from the prime minister here in the UK.”

Hopefully that will be of some reassurance to the prime minister as she wakes up to the furore that has resulted from Trump’s interview and contemplates a morning of talks and a working lunch with the president.

Updated

Donald Trump said Sadiq Khan was doing “a very bad job on terrorism” and “a bad job on crime”.
Donald Trump said Sadiq Khan was doing “a very bad job on terrorism” and “a bad job on crime”. Photograph: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock

In his interview with the Sun, the president has renewed his feud with London mayor Sadiq Khan.

“Take a look at the terrorism that is taking place. Look at what is going on in London,” Trump said, before referring directly to Khan: “I think he has done a very bad job on terrorism. I think he has done a bad job on crime, if you look, all of the horrible things going on there, with all of the crime that is being brought in.”

Trump even appeared to hold Khan personally responsible for immigration in Europe. “I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad. I look at cities in Europe, and I can be specific if you’d like. You have a mayor who has done a terrible job in London. He has done a terrible job.”

While at the Nato summit earlier in the week, the Guardian’s Ewen MacAskill asked Trump how he felt about the protests that were being planned for his visit. Trump said he was unconcerned, adding “I think they like me a lot in the UK”.

Protests are planned around the country this week, including a march in central London today, that more than 60,000 people have indicated they will attend. A further 10,000 people are expected to take part in a separate women’s march along the same route earlier in the day.

The Trump baby blimp will not be allowed to fly over the US president’s Turnberry golf course when he visits over the weekend.
The Trump baby blimp will not be allowed to fly over the US president’s Turnberry golf course when he visits over the weekend. Photograph: Kirsty O'Connor/PA

Despite the confidence he expressed about his popularity in Britain, Trump told the Sun in his controversial interview that he had been made to feel “unwelcome” by the Trump baby blimp, which is due to fly over Parliament Square today.

“I guess when they put out blimps to make me feel unwelcome, no reason for me to go to London. I used to love London as a city. I haven’t been there in a long time. But when they make you feel unwelcome, why would I stay there?” he said.

Updated

David Smith, the Guardian’s Washington bureau chief, has this analysis of Trump’s explosive interview with the Sun:

Donald Trump has once again torn up standard etiquette for diplomacy by turning up, not with flowers or a bottle of wine – but a verbal grenade. As he was setting off for his first visit to the UK as American president, he told the Sun that he advised Theresa May “how to do” Brexit but “she didn’t listen to me”...

Clearly, when in 2016 Trump declared himself “Mr Brexit”, he should have been taken both seriously and literally. His ego and belief in his own deal-making skills are such that he apparently thought he alone could fix it. Few observers believe that he has studied the vast mounds of paperwork or the complex web of laws involved.

His outburst to the Sun – a Eurosceptic tabloid newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox News channel supplies many of Trump’s views and staff – could certainly be seen as bad manners, perhaps an act of revenge for the baby blimp set to take to the London sky on Friday.

On another, equally Trumpian level, it might be regarded as his latest brazen attempt to undermine an old ally. Just as the president tore into Angela Merkel’s Germany over pastries and cheese before the Nato summit had even started, now he has May’s Britain in his sights.

His full analysis is here.

Updated

Some of the pictures from last night’s formal dinner at Blenheim Palace are providing some great fodder for a caption competition. Feel free to share your own takes on this photograph with me on Twitter or below in the comments. Here are some good ones to start you off.

What is Trump doing today?

  • The president will leave London this morning and travel to Sandhurst, the royal military academy, where he will participate in a viewing of joint military forces.
  • From there he goes to Chequers for a bilateral meeting with Theresa May, due to begin at 10:50am, followed by a working lunch with her.
  • At 1:45pm we are expecting a joint press conference to be held between Trump and May.
  • At 5pm, the president and first lady will participate in an official greeting with the queen at Windsor Castle and then have tea with her. The Trumps are scheduled to spend a total of 40 minutes with the queen.
  • After this they travel to Stansted and fly to Glasgow. From there they will go to Trump’s golf course in Turnberry.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today’s politics news, which will be dominated today by Donald Trump’s first official visit to the UK.

The US president arrived in Britain yesterday ahead of a four-day visit, but things got off to a shaky start due to an interview Trump gave to the Rupert Murdoch-owned Sun newspaper, in which he trashed Theresa May’s plan for Brexit, hailed Boris Johnson as a future prime minster and accused Sadiq Khan, London mayor, of doing “a bad job” on terrorism.

Trump suggested that May’s plan for a “soft Brexit”, agreed to by her Cabinet last week, could jeopardise the UK-US trade deal, expected to be negotiated by the two leaders today.

“If they do a deal like that, we would be dealing with the European Union instead of dealing with the UK, so it will probably kill the deal. If they do that, then their trade deal with the US will probably not be made,” he said.

The interview is a break with diplomatic protocol – it generally being seen as bad taste to criticise one’s host – and is both humiliating and politically problematic for May who only received support for her “soft” Brexit plans last week after painful negotiations with her Cabinet, which resulted in the resignations of Boris Johnson and David Davis.

Trump’s comments were met with outrage by MPs, who have accused him of “disrespecting” the nation and “humiliating” the prime minister. Some have suggested his interview is grounds for Theresa May to show him the door.

We will bring you the news of Trump’s visit, political fallout from his interview, and anything else that happens, throughout the day. Keep checking in.

Updated

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