Trump lays wreath at Queen Elizabeth II’s tomb in St George’s Chapel

President Donald Trump has laid a wreath at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II as part of his second state visit to the UK.

The planned mark of respect took place today during a visit to St George’s Chapel, where the Queen is buried. Trump has long been known to hold deep affection for the late Queen, whom he met in person on multiple occasions.

He first met the UK’s longest-reigning monarch in July 2018 during his first official visit to the UK. The Queen greeted the President, then in his first term, alongside his wife, and they inspected the Guard of Honour together.

In 2019, when Trump returned to the UK for a state visit, the Queen hosted a state banquet at Buckingham Palace in his honour. Trump, deferential to the British monarch, described the Queen as a “great, great woman” during his banquet speech.

Upon Queen Elizabeth’s death in 2022, Trump said: “What a grand and beautiful lady she was — there was nobody like her! … May God bless the Queen, may she reign forever in our hearts, and may God hold her and Prince Philip in abiding care.”

More broadly, Trump is known to be a royal enthusiast, having said during a July press conference that the UK is “very lucky to have [the Royal Family],” calling King Charles, Queen Camilla, and others “great people.” He has also described King Charles III and Queen Camilla as “friends of mine for a long time.”

The state visit, scheduled from 17 to 19 September, is being hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle. One of the main goals is to reinforce the special relationship between the United States and the UK, particularly in tech. A £31‑billion Tech Prosperity Deal, focusing on AI, quantum, and civil nuclear energy, has been agreed, with major U.S. tech firms such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Google (with DeepMind), and OpenAI making significant investment pledges in the UK.

While the visit has been welcomed by the UK’s political establishment, thousands of anti-Trump protesters marched in London in opposition to the visit. Four men have also been arrested after projecting images of Donald Trump alongside Jeffrey Epstein onto Windsor Castle on Tuesday.

(Photo by CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)