Keir Starmer has sought to navigate a politically treacherous state visit by Donald Trump with an announcement of £150bn of US investment in the UK, as the president was kept safely within the confines of Windsor Castle.
As thousands of protesters voiced their anger in London at a Stop Trump Coalition protest, the US president was escorted by the king and queen through a first day that ended in a state banquet but kept him out of reach of his critics.
The recent sacking of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador in Washington over his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein looms large over the historic two-day visit, with Trump himself facing questions over his dealings with the disgraced financier who killed himself in prison in 2019.
With Downing Street eager to make the best of what could prove to be a difficult few days, Starmer announced what was said to be the largest ever investment package in the UK.
Of the £150bn, £90bn was a commitment from the private equity firm Blackstone to invest in the UK over the next decade. That was on top of £10bn the company committed to an artificial intelligence datacentre earlier this year.
Other announcements include £3.9bn from the investment firm Prologis and £1.5bn from the tech company Palantir. The government said the package would create 7,600 high-quality jobs in sectors including clean energy and life sciences.
Starmer said that “with friends like the US” the UK could “help shape the future for generations to come and make people across the country better off”, adding: “These investments are a testament to Britain’s economic strength and a bold signal that our country is open, ambitious and ready to lead.”
Downing Street sources said the £150bn of inward investment was higher than the figure for the whole of last year and that the prime minister was feeling “very upbeat” because it exceeded expectations.
The announcement followed a separate pledge of billions of pounds of investment from US tech firms, including from Microsoft, which has announced a $30bn (£22bn) spending package – its largest ever outside the US.
But the careful choreography was dealt a blow on Wednesday when Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister who held one of the most senior roles at Meta until earlier this year, described the US-UK tech deal as “sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley”.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, Clegg said of the US tech companies: “These companies need those infrastructure resources anyway. They’re building datacentres all over the world.
“Maybe they were pushed a bit forward just to meet the timetable with this week’s state visit. But … it’s all one-way traffic.
“We just have to be a little bit more realistic about our predicament and a little bit firmer about what we can do ourselves, rather than what I think we’re seeing with this US-UK tech deal, which is basically just sloppy seconds from Silicon Valley.”
Critics have argued that the tech deal, due to be finalised at the prime minister’s Chequers retreat with Trump on Thursday, does little to support the UK’s homegrown tech industry and have questioned what concessions the government might give US tech companies on regulation and tax.
After landing by helicopter in Windsor Castle’s grounds on Wednesday morning, Trump joined the king in a horse-drawn carriage but the procession remained within the royal estate and out of the reach of the public, with security concerns given as an explanation.
The president and his wife, Melania, were later hosted by Charles at a lavish state banquet inside Windsor Castle on Wednesday alongside several top business executives including Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
They were served Hampshire watercress panna cotta with parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad, followed by Norfolk chicken ballotine and a vanilla ice-cream bombe with Kentish raspberry sorbet interior with lightly poached victoria plums.
A whisky sour cocktail garnished with a toasted marshmallow set on a star-shaped biscuit “evoking the warmth of a fireside S’more” was served, although Trump does not drink alcohol.
During his speech the king emphasised the importance of protecting the environment, saying the legacy of both nations over the “next 250 years and beyond” was to ensure future generations can experience “natural treasures”.
Trump, meanwhile, used his speech to pay a heartfelt tribute to the US’s relationship with the UK, saying the “word ‘special’ does not begin to do it justice”.
The US leader also heaped praise on the king, describing his as a “very, very special man”. He went on to say: “We’re joined by history and faith, by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny. We’re like two notes in one chord or two verses of the same poem, each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together.”
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Among those in attendance was Rupert Murdoch, who sat next to Starmer’s under-fire chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney.
The visit, which has been marked by protests involving an estimated 5,000 people in London and a much smaller number in Windsor, comes after two bruising weeks for Starmer that saw him lose both his deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, and his US ambassador, raising questions about his political judgment and ability to lead his party into the next election.
At the Stop Trump Coalition protest in London, the musician Billy Bragg performed songs aimed at the US president featuring the lyrics “you fascists are bound to lose”. The president came to Britain because he “wants to feel like a king”, Bragg claimed.
The comedian Nish Kumar launched a blow-up ball with the vice-president JD Vance’s face on it into the crowd. “Donald Trump is a lightning rod [for] white supremacist groups and racists around the world,” he said.
Every effort was put on to impress Trump in Windsor but a flypast of F-35 jets above Windsor Castle had to be cancelled due to poor weather and at times the president appeared bored.
Trump laid a wreath at the late Queen Elizabeth’s tomb inside St George’s Chapel and he was given a tour with his wife that included Henry VIII’s burial vault and a memorial plate in honour of Sir Winston Churchill. “This was a great honour,” the president said.
Trump and his wife also joined the king and queen to inspect artefacts pertaining to British-American relations.
“Wow,” Trump said as he looked at documents about US independence. “That’s fascinating,” said Charles as he pointed out another table, detailing the transatlantic cable used for communication between the two countries. Trump agreed: “That’s so amazing.”
Members of the royal family joined the US president for lunch in the state dining room along with the new interim ambassador to the US, James Roscoe, and Trump’s entourage.
The president and the king chatted amiably throughout the day but Trump appeared to breach an unofficial protocol by twice touching the monarch’s back.
On Wednesday, YouGov released new polling that suggested that more than half of Britons think the Trump presidency has been bad for the UK. Fewer than one person in 10 thinks it has been good.
Britons were said to be fairly evenly divided between those who think Starmer has been too positive towards Trump (30%) and those who think he has got the balance right (27%), the poll suggests.
To mark his second state visit, Starmer will give Trump a bespoke ministerial red box adorned with the presidential seal and title. The first lady will receive a colourful silk scarf based on artwork created by Ukrainian children, in a nod to her work raising awareness of their plight. The Trumps will receive the gifts during their visit to Chequers on Thursday.
Two people were arrested in Windsor over public order incidents linked to Trump’s visit, Thames Valley police said.