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Trump’s State Visit to Britain, Long Delayed, Now Has a Date

Queen Elizabeth II greeted President Trump at Windsor Castle, England, in July.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

LONDON — Britain plans to welcome President Trump with the formality of a state visit in June, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday, two and a half years after first extending the invitation.

Prime Minister Theresa May first conveyed the invitation for a state visit to Mr. Trump when he took office in 2017. Mr. Trump accepted, but it became an on-again, off-again arrangement that came to reflect the hesitation and awkwardness that has characterized relations between the two leaders. Mrs. May’s enthusiasm for a visit is partly because of her country’s need for strong bilateral partnerships after Brexit.

Mr. Trump traveled to Britain last year on a working visit, a downgrade from his original plans. The trip included meeting Queen Elizabeth II but not the honor of a full state visit, which usually includes ceremonies, government meetings, a ballroom banquet and other public engagements.

The president and first lady accepted the invitation, the White House said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. During his visit, Mr. Trump will meet the queen and hold talks with the British prime minister, the statement added.

Mrs. May said in a statement on Tuesday that the state visit was “an opportunity to strengthen our already close relationship in areas such as trade, investment, security and defense, and to discuss how we can build on these ties in the years ahead.”

First mentioned very early in the Trump presidency, the idea of a state visit was designed to help solidify trans-Atlantic ties at a time when Britain’s departure from the European Union made the United States a potentially vital trade ally.

It was controversial not only because of Mr. Trump’s brand of politics but also because state visits are not usually offered at the beginning of an American presidency.

When Mr. Trump eventually traveled to Britain last year on a working visit, it had fewer of the ceremonial trappings than a state visit. However, Mr. Trump still proved to be a problematic guest for the prime minister, using an interview with the Sun newspaper to endorse Boris Johnson as a future leader, only a few days after he had resigned as foreign secretary over Mrs. May’s Brexit policy.

The announcement of the state visit comes at a time when Mrs. May faces a growing rebellion from her own lawmakers over her failure to take Britain out of the European Union on schedule on March 29.

Mrs. May hopes that, by the time of Mr. Trump’s visit, Parliament will have approved her plan for Brexit, and Britain will be on course to leave the bloc, perhaps at the end of June. She has said that sometime after that she would step aside for a new leader.

But with no sign that her Brexit plan will be approved soon by Parliament, the state visit could come at a time of significant political tension over Mrs. May’s leadership. Because of the latest delay to Brexit, Britain is likely to hold elections to the European Parliament on May 23. If that contest goes ahead as expected, experts predict that the results are likely to be bad for Mrs. May’s Conservatives, and to fuel discontent within her party.

Until Britain leaves the European Union, it will not be able to start formal negotiations on any new trade agreement with the United States, even if Mr. Trump offers to help facilitate one.

On June 5, the president will take part in events in Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, the White House said, adding that the next day, Mr. and Mrs. Trump would travel to France at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron.

A formal invitation for a state visit, issued by the monarch on the advice of the government, is among the heaviest tools in Britain’s diplomatic arsenal. Before Mr. Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush were the only two American presidents who had been invited to Britain for a full state visit.

Mr. Trump mostly avoided London on his last visit, when protesters made it clear that he would not be welcome in the capital.

John Bercow, the speaker of the House of Commons, has said that he will not allow Mr. Trump to address Parliament, as other leaders, including Mr. Obama, President Xi Jinping of China and former President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, have done.

A former head of the British Navy, Lord West, said that, considering the occasion, President Trump should be allowed to address Parliament.

“Many Americans gave their lives on D-Day and beyond, and it would be disgraceful not to allow President Trump to speak,” he told The Daily Telegraph on Friday.

Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, who has been a target of Mr. Trump’s scorn, allowed protesters to fly a giant orange balloon of the president depicted as a baby in a diaper over the city during the American president’s visit last year.

In 2017, Mr. Khan supported a petition that called for the government to disinvite the president. The petition gathered more than 1.8 million signatures.

At that time, Mr. Khan said the president’s “ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries” and his decision to block refugees from entering the United States meant he should not be afforded a state visit.

“In those circumstances, we shouldn’t be rolling out the red carpet,” Mr. Khan said.

Follow Palko Karasz on Twitter: @karaszpalko.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 7 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Accepts Invitation For State Visit to Britain. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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