Latest news with #StateVisit
News.com.au
an hour ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Picture exposes Kate's Trump nightmare
What. About. The. Lawn. In 2019 Donald and Melania Trump packed up their his and her medical-grade bronzer tubs and headed to London for a State visit, landing on the Buckingham Palace lawn in Marine One, the presidential helicopter. One was not amused. Days later Scott 'I don't hold the hose' Morrison visited the Palace and the late Queen, per the Times, 'marched him to a window to look out at the once green and pleasant grass and said: 'Come and look at my lawn. It's ruined.'' Let's hope the royal family's under gardeners are ready given that Mr Trump is set to return to London for an historic second State. (It is reportedly 'pencilled in' for September.) And let's hope that Kate, The Princess of Wales is already working on her game face for what will be the most charged, if not hardest, assignment of her royal career. Kate and Trump. Smiling side-by-side. Just imagine it. You can't quite, right? But this moment will happen, along with 98 other smiley, pose-y, 'say fromage for the cameras' instances during the visit, during which Mr Trump will try and impress the princess with big talk of his putting game and she will attempt to explain why her father-in-law is not interested in invading Iceland. What a meeting of minds. And what diplomatic heroics will the expected of Kate as she faces assuming a major role for the trip. In 2019, the last time that the Trumps and their individual hair care crates were in the UK, Kate was the Duchess of Cambridge, a significant place removed from the throne. Back then, she and Prince William were able to fly under the radar and take relatively back seat roles. Her responsibilities extended entirely to sourcing an Alexander McQueen gown and remembering to wash her hair or the State dinner. Not this time. If the 2025 trip is anything like the one six years ago, as the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate will be expected to host the Trumps for tea and to step up to help King Charles and Queen Camilla shoulder the hoisting load during the scheduled-to-the-millisecond, multi-day Cirque du Soleil-level formal production. Kate might have a few State visits as a princess under her belt (South Africa, South Korea, Japan and Qatar) but nothing like this year's American one given the involvement of the world's most famous McNugget consumer. Even months out, the Trump visit is already shaping up to be the most charged State event of Kate's 14 years on the royal clock, surpassing that time in 2015 when China's President Xi Jingping turned up for his go in a gold carriage down The Mall and faced protesters. (Courtiers no doubt all let out a collective sigh of relief that Prince Philip was several hours away in Norfolk glueing together an Airfix model of a Spitfire and couldn't be bothered to try out any new material.) For this visit, the demands put on William and Kate for a note perfect performance will be that much greater. The prince has already gotten a taste of this, having what was by all accounts a very warm and chummy meeting with Trump in Paris in December last year. (William does know something about being an apprentice after all.) The success of that face-to-face speaks to the demands put on working members to put aside all personal thought and feeling and to quiescently do what Whitehall asks of them. After all, William's marquee project is The Earthshot Prize, giving away nearly $100 million to creative and exciting climate crisis solutions; the Trump administration is opening up Millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness to drilling and mining. For Kate and William, this US State visit will be a major taste of what lies ahead for them – having to do the glad-handing bidding of Downing Street. (State visits are organised at the request of the government of the day, not based on who the sovereign fancies having over for a Scotch Finger.) Kings and Queens are required to remain blandly, politically neutral at all times, to be perpetually smiling milquetoast automatons in good quality wool separates. Their personal tastes, preferences and ideological inclinations can and will never enter the equation. Come September, the realpolitik demanded of royalty will be on full display. Even then, no matter how much hot air there will be coming out of governmental and royal functionaires about special relationships, the rest of the UK's 68 million people might not feel the same way. William and Kate will be working their smiling muscles and playing very very nice with the Cousins but on the streets of the capital public feeling could be running high. Mr Trump's trips to the UK in 2018 and 2019 were met with large-scale public resistance. There were mass protests, nearly 1.9 million people signed a petition opposing his visit; newly knighted London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan forcefully denounced the president; and then speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow barred him from addressing parliament. Things already sound a tad tense. Meeting Mr Trump's 'sky high' expectations of the visit is reportedly proving quite the royal headache. Tim Shipman, the Sunday Times ' chief political commentator, reported this week that the Palace and Downing Street 'have struggled to agree the details [of the trip] with the White House'. Unlike say Mr Xi who got to enjoy the pomp of being jostled and jigged in a wooden coach around central London beside the late Queen, 'officials say Trump is a far bigger assassination threat and there is no coach sufficiently armoured to allow him to use it.' There is also the question of where to stash Mr and Mrs Trump. Buckingham Palace is in the midst of a ten-year renovation and King Charles has, and may very well never, live there. Adding another possibly testy element – Charles is the King of Canada, a country that Mr Trump has threatened to annex. A visit earlier this month to Ottawa saw the King very obviously demonstrate his support for the country, and his speech to their parliament was 'a coded rebuke to Trump's expansionist urges,' per the Times. Unlikely to impress the president either is that French President Emmanuel Macron is set to get his own royal State visit months before the American one. 'It is an open secret,' Shipman wrote, 'that the King is happy' about this trumping. Egos, a lack of carriages, dogs, aides, renovations, helicopters, dinners, finger sandwiches, nerves, sensitivities: There is a lot involved in the Trumps' arrival, any – all – of it could go pear-shaped and Kate will be at the heart of things. Lucky girl. There is one perfect moment though that, let us pray, gets recreated somehow. In 2019, Queen Camilla went viral after being caught on camera winking behind Mr Trump's back. Oooh errrr Your Majesty. Give us another one, please.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Kate Middleton's two breakfast 'everyday' staples and 'heavy dinner'
The Princess of Wales is known to be a fan of healthy eating but still enjoys carbing up to the max in the evening The Princess of Wales is renowned for her enthusiastic participation in a wide array of activities during her Royal engagements. Kate is often seen diving into action, whether it's running races, getting her hands dirty with gardening, playing hockey, or even trying her hand at taekwondo when she visits events involving children or sports. She also never fails to impress with her sartorial choices – at the Trooping the Colour, Kate turned heads in an aquamarine Catherine Walker dress coat with striking ivory contrast lapels and cuffs. Complementing her outfit was a matching wide-brimmed hat by Juliette Botterill, worn as she shared a carriage ride with her daughter, Princess Charlotte. Her accessories included Queen Elizabeth's Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings, which are a favourite of Kate's, having been worn at the Qatar State Visit and on Remembrance Sunday. She also sported the Irish Guards Regimental Brooch on her jacket. Being so active and always looking impeccable means that Kate follows a diet that provides plenty of energy. She is a known advocate of the Mediterranean diet, which focuses on plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes, along with moderate amounts of lean protein from fish and poultry, low-fat dairy products, and healthy fats like olive oil. This diet minimises red meat and sweet treats. In addition to her healthy eating habits, Kate is said to "love" preparing carb-heavy roast chicken for family meals and has a penchant for spicy vegetable curries. Kate is an enthusiast of high-impact weight training workouts and dedicates herself daily to fitness without the aid of a personal trainer, ensuring she gets ample protein for maximum benefits. Nikkita Hope-Brown, a certified PT and proprietor of Found, a women-focused strength training studio in London, underscored the importance of protein to HELLO! magazine: "You cannot build muscle without the building blocks, which is protein." Protein is likened to the essential bricks for constructing muscle, as explained by Nikkita, who offered an analogy: "To give a metaphor, proteins are the bricks that makeup the wall, and strength training is the actual bricklaying. You cannot build a house without the actual bricks or someone doing the work of laying the bricks - you need to have both. How much protein we need depends on our goals and body, for muscle growth, typically 1.5 - 2g of protein for every kilogram we weigh." Echoing a similar sentiment, Kate Rowe-Ham, a fitness coach and founder of Owning Your Menopause, shared this wisdom: "You can't out-train a poor diet. Muscles are built in the gym but need to recover and transform in the kitchen. To support muscle growth and recovery, it is essential to consume a high-protein diet, especially after a workout." Kate advocated for a rounded approach to nutrition: "Include whole foods rich in fibre, healthy fats, and complex carbs to fuel your workouts and stabilise hormones." The Royal is reportedly a fan of starting her day with a green smoothie, much like her sister-in-law, Meghan Markle. Her blend includes spinach, kale, blueberries and matcha. She's also known to kick off her mornings with a bowl of slow-burning energy oats, or rolled oats, which she often pairs with milk or yoghurt and tops with fruits, nuts, cinnamon, and nut butter. Her lunch typically features salads and fruit bowls, with an emphasis on foods that enhance skin health, such as watermelon salads and gazpacho. For an afternoon pick-me-up, she enjoys berries blended with almond milk and generally prefers lighter meals during the day. According to the Daily Mail, Kate also leans towards raw dishes like watermelon salads, gazpacho, goji berries, tabbouleh and ceviche for their skincare benefits. However, she doesn't shy away from heartier, traditional English dinners like big roasts and curries. Kate's daily food diary. Breakfast: A green smoothie is a staple, blending kale, spinach, spirulina, matcha, romaine lettuce, coriander, and blueberries. Alternatively, a bowl of slow-burn energy oats. Lunch: Salads and fruit bowls are favourites, with a special focus on skin-boosting foods like watermelon salads, gazpacho, and tabbouleh. She also enjoys ceviche. Dinner: While she favours lighter meals during the day, Kate relishes traditional English meals or carb-rich options for tea like roast dinners and curries. Snacks: Olives and popcorn are said to be her go-to snacks. Beverages: The Duchess is fond of smoothies and is also known to enjoy ginger tea. While Middleton hasn't confessed to any specific eating habits, sources report that she avoids: Dairy Seafood when travelling (as per royal protocol)
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Starmer says Trump's state visit to go ahead and hopes it will be this year
Sir Keir Starmer said Donald Trump's second state visit to the UK will go ahead but could not confirm it will happen this year. The Prime Minister handed the US president an invitation letter from the King for an unprecedented second state visit at the White House in February. Sir Keir was asked if Mr Trump was coming in September. 'He'll be coming in, obviously, the palace will organise the dates, but President Trump will be coming for his state visit,' he told Bloomberg. Asked if it would be this year, he said: 'I hope so, yes. 'I don't want to take over the job of the palace. It's their job to set out exactly the dates of the invitation. 'But I'm really pleased that we will be able to showcase the close relationship we have between the UK and the US. That's historically a close relationship. 'This will be a historic second visit for President Trump and we're all looking forward to welcoming him here.'
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Moment wife of Emmanuel Macron pushes him in face as they land in Vietnam
Footage shows the moment Brigitte Macron pushed the French president away as they touched down in Hanoi for a state visit. The president played down the incident as he told reporters in Hanoi that they were 'joking about'
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's Middle East Trip Calls Attention to His Personal Business Ties
This week, President Donald Trump made the first official state trip of his second term to the Middle East, where he hoped to announce a series of high-profile deals with the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The deals, which include a commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S., an arms package with Qatar, and commercial deals with the UAE, involve countries where the Trump family itself has significant business ties. During his first term in office, the Trump Organization, which is owned privately by Trump and jointly controlled by his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., refrained from pursuing new foreign business deals. However, the organization did not renew that commitment after Trump's election in November, and his sons have already initiated several foreign deals since January. Potential conflicts between the president's personal business and official duties emerged even before Trump left the United States, when reports emerged that the administration was preparing to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet from the Qatari royal family to use as a new Air Force One. On May 11, ABC News reported that the plane would be given to the U.S. Air Force for Trump's use during his presidency, but would then be transferred to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library at the end of his term, suggesting the $400 million aircraft could be used by Trump as a private citizen following his presidency. ABC News reported that lawyers in the administration had reviewed the deal and determined it did not violate U.S. law. 'Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,' White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the outlet. The White House and Department of Justice reportedly believe that, because the gift is being made to the U.S. Air Force—not Trump directly—and is not being made in exchange for an official act, there is no violation. Ethics experts, however, question whether the deal violates the Emoluments Clause—a provision of the Constitution that generally prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts and other objects or services of value from foreign governments, officials, or representatives without congressional consent. 'I don't buy the explanation at all,' professor Richard Painter, who served as the chief ethics adviser to President George W. Bush from 2005 to 2007, told The Dispatch. 'The Emoluments Clause is in the Constitution to prevent any gifts from foreign governments, whether or not there's a bribe.' Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel, and senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, agreed. 'It's almost impossible to mask the fact that this is a foreign government giving a gift to a president, which falls squarely into the Emoluments Clause,' Payne told The Dispatch. 'So they can try all the legal gymnastics of explaining how this deal is structured, but, at the end of it all, the foreign government is giving a gift to the president, and that raises huge constitutional questions about how the Emoluments Clause applies.' Some legal experts, however, think the case is less clear—especially if the aircraft is decommissioned once given to Trump's presidential library foundation. 'Assuming that the reporting is correct that the Qatari jet will be decommissioned and will not keep flying once Trump is out of office, then that is not at all clear cut,' Jed Shugerman, professor of law at Boston University, told The Dispatch. While Shugerman believes that there were many Emoluments Clause violations during Trump's first term—such as foreign governments spending lavishly at hotels owned by the Trump Organization—and that the administration is likely violating the Emoluments Clause again through its involvement with cryptocurrencies, he does not think that the gift of a Qatari aircraft necessarily falls in the same bucket. 'I doubt a court would call that a violation of the Emoluments Clause.' In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a pair of lawsuits over potential violations of the Emoluments Clause during Trump's first term, saying that the cases were moot after Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and left office. The Qatari jet deal is not the only potential conflict of interest with the nations Trump visited this week. His family's business ties with the three Persian Gulf states run the gamut from real estate to cryptocurrency to his son-in-law's involvement with foreign sovereign wealth funds. In December, the Trump Organization announced that it was licensing its name to several real estate projects in Riyadh—Saudi Arabia's capital—and Jeddah—a port city on the country's Red Sea coast. The projects are being developed by London-based Dar Global, the international subsidiary of Dar Al Arkan, a Saudi luxury real estate developer with close links to the Saudi government. The Trump Organization has previously worked with the firm on other projects across the Middle East, including a golf community in Oman. The Trump Organization's foreign real estate deals are mostly licensing agreements, in which a developer pays a fee to the organization for the right to market and operate a property under the Trump brand. (Other agreements, like its Oman project, also pay the Trump Organization to manage the properties.) The Trump Organization is also linked to the Saudi government through its partnerships with LIV Golf, a professional golf tour owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. The effort, like Qatar's bid to host the 2022 World Cup and Saudi Arabia's prolific spending on its professional soccer league, has been criticized by some as a form of 'sportswashing'—a term describing the use of popular sporting events to distract from human rights abuses and corrupt state behavior. Trump's Miami and Bedminster, New Jersey, golf clubs both hosted LIV events during the tour's inaugural 2022 season, and, in 2023, three Trump clubs—Miami, Bedminster, and Washington, D.C.—hosted the series. Trump's Doral club in Miami has since hosted two additional LIV tournament events in April 2024 and April 2025. LIV Golf reportedly paid a site fee 'of around seven figures' to Trump's courses, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal. 'The deals connected with the president's company are clear violations of the ethics norm that a president should not have financial interests that present a conflict,' Payne explained. 'Presidents, in the past, have made sure that they don't have financial interest and conflict with their job to avoid this appearance of a problem.' Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has another connection to the Trump family through Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. In 2022, the fund invested $2 billion with Affinity Partners, a private equity firm founded by Kushner in 2021. Last year, the fund's assets under management increased by 60 percent to nearly $4.8 billion following additional capital injections from two of its existing investors: Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and Lunate, an investment manager based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Though the invested capital does not belong to Kushner himself, it is standard practice in the private equity industry for firms to earn management fees applied to total assets and performance fees applied to investment profits. Democrats have questioned whether the arrangement could allow foreign governments to influence Kushner and other individuals close to the Trump administration. 'Kushner got that $2 billion from the Saudi royal family against the advice of their own financial advisers,' Painter said, citing a 2022 New York Times article that reported that the panel that reviews investments for Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund had serious reservations about investing with Kushner's firm before being overruled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 'It really creates a bad impression that they're trying to screw around the ethics rules and get personal benefits and profit from the presidency.' Kushner, who served as Trump's top Middle East negotiator during his first term, has not taken a formal role in his father-in-law's second administration. However, Kushner reportedly began advising the administration quietly in preparation for negotiations with Arab leaders during this week's tour. According to CNN, Kushner has been 'heavily involved' in discussions with Arab nations surrounding diplomatic normalization agreements with Israel—an issue he also took the lead on during Trump's first term. In April, Qatari Diar—a real estate firm established by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund—and Dar Global announced that they would partner to develop a Trump-branded real estate project in Qatar. The project reportedly will include a golf course and villas and is part of a larger $5.5 billion development project in the coastal town of Simaisma. Qatari links also extend directly to the Trump administration. Attorney General Pam Bondi—who, with White House lawyer David Warrington, determined that Qatar's gifting of an aircraft was legally permissible—was formerly a lobbyist on behalf of the Qatari government. According to Foreign Agent Registration Act disclosures, Bondi represented the Embassy of the State of Qatar 'providing advice, counsel, and other assistance with respect to efforts to combat human trafficking,' while working for the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, for which she was paid $115,000 per month. Bondi departed her role at Ballard Partners in November 2019 to take up a temporary position in the Office of White House Counsel during Trump's first term. Once that job ended, however, Bondi rejoined Ballard Partners and resumed lobbying on behalf of Qatar in 2020. The UAE is closely involved in the Trump Organization's ventures in both real estate and cryptocurrency. On April 30, the Trump Organization announced that it and Dar Global were developing the Trump International Hotel & Tower in downtown Dubai. A similar Dubai project in partnership with UAE state-owned real estate company Nakheel was previously announced by the Trump Organization in 2005, but the project was canceled in 2011. Earlier this month, Zach Witkoff—co-founder of World Liberty Financial (WLF), a crypto firm controlled by the Trump family—also announced at a cryptocurrency conference in Dubai that WLF's stablecoin, USD1, would be used by the Emirati state-owned investment firm MGX to close a $2 billion investment in Binance, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Zach Witkoff is the son of Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump ally who currently serves as the United States special envoy to the Middle East. The deal grants the early-stage stablecoin increased legitimacy in the crypto industry, and, if Binance decides to hold onto the $2 billion worth of USD1 used for the investment, would allow WLF to earn tens of millions of dollars in yield from the U.S. Treasury bonds used as USD1's underlying reserves. In April, Emirati crypto investment firm DFW Labs also purchased $25 million worth of WLF's governance tokens, which grant the firm a right to vote on changes to WLF's underlying digital platform. (See this previous Dispatch piece on the administration's involvement in cryptocurrency for a primer on stablecoins and governance tokens.) The investments only scratch the surface of the Trump family's deepening entrenchment into the world of cryptocurrencies, which also includes a series of digital NFT trading cards, a viral 'memecoin,' and other cryptocurrency investment products. 'Cryptocurrency could be used to pay bribes—it's used for money laundering and bribes all the time because cryptocurrency transactions are so difficult to trace,' Painter explained. 'So, this is a situation where we may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg.' While no evidence has emerged that the Trump family or administration has explicitly violated the law through its involvement with cryptocurrency, the violation of broader presidential norms is still problematic. 'Whether you're violating an ethics norm or you're violating the Constitution, you are still violating the public's trust and their expectations of what their highest elected official is doing in office,' Payne said.
