London/New Delhi:
US President Donald Trump arrived in London on Thursday on his maiden visit to the UK to hold bilateral talks with British Prime Minister Theresa May over closer post-Brexit ties.
As Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump landed at Stansted Airport in the east of England from the NATO summit in Brussels, mass protests against his controversial policies are planned around Britain.
Trump’s US policies, including the travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries, the detention of child migrants on the US-Mexico border and the imposition of tariffs on EU steel and aluminium exports, are being strongly criticised by the UK.
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Trump is the 12th US President to make such a visit to the UK. His visit comes amid what he described as "turmoil" for the UK government, as May faces rebellion from within her own party over her Brexit strategy.
Recently, Trump said it was "up to the people" whether the prime minister stayed on after two senior Cabinet ministers resigned within hours over her Brexit policy.
Trump’s visit is seen as crucial at paving way for a closer US-UK trading relationship.
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In Brussels today, Trump said he was not sure that Britons had voted for the Brexit plan presented by May, which has triggered a British cabinet rebellion.
"The people voted to break it up (Britain's ties with the EU)," Trump told a press conference in Brussels on the eve of a trip to Britain.
"So I would imagine that's what they will do, but maybe they will take a little bit of a different route. I don't know that is what they voted for," he had said.
