Donald Trump was handed an invitation to make a second state visit to the UK by British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, on Thursday (February 27) – but many Brits are trying to stop it
A furious backlash has erupted in the UK over King Charles III’s decision to invite Donald Trump for a second state visit.
Sir Keir Starmer hand-delivered the invitation, in the form of a letter, to Trump in the White House’s Oval Office, saying: “This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented. It is my pleasure to bring from His Majesty the King, a letter.”
He continued: “He sends his best wishes and his regards, of course, but he also asked me to bear this letter and bring it to you. So can I present a letter from the King.”
Trump quickly accepted the invite, but critics have been swift to condemn the move.
An online petition, sparked by the Stop Trump Coalition, has already amassed 70,000 signatures calling for the state visit to be cancelled. The petition argues: “After Trump’s treatment of Ukraine’s President Zelensky, he has shown that he is not our friend or an ally of democracy. The tactic of trying to flatter him into doing the right thing has failed. He is not someone who should be receiving honours of any kind. The offer of a state visit should be rescinded.”
Campaigner Zoe Jardiniere took to TikTok to drum up support for the petition, expressing her delight at watching the number of signatures soar.
She said the petition was a reaction to the “absolute scenes” following Trump’s handling of Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday (February 28). Zoe remarked: “Trump essentially showed us that he’s nothing more than Putin’s mouthpiece when it comes to peace in Ukraine and defending the rights of the brave Ukrainian people who have been fighting for three years against awful aggression. Should Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK be cancelled? Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.”
She added: “But that’s not all – we already despised Trump anyway in the UK. We detest Musk, we loathe the oligarch bros – we don’t want any of that undermining our democratic systems here in the UK and across Europe.”
Following her call to action, hundreds of TikTok users rallied in agreement. One user commented: “Signed. Be back in the UK in a couple of weeks and be more than happy to join any protests.”
Another chimed in: “Signed. Someone should also set up one on the parliament website to trigger a parliamentary debate about it.”
A third person weighed in on the debate, saying: “Should never have been offered given how he has treated Canada – which King Charles is Head of State of too. Glad to see the King met Zelenskyy this weekend though.”
Meanwhile, a fourth voice added: “Totally spot on but I think the Labour government will do a U-turn now. We are a part of Europe and have always supported Ukraine.”
Back in 2019, an attempt to block Trump’s first state visit through a petition to the UK parliament garnered 1,863,708 signatures but ultimately did not succeed.
