Chequers, the official countryside residence of the UK Prime Minister, has hosted several controversial world leaders, from China’s President Xi Jinping to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and another has just been added to the list.
But this state visit – the unprecedented second for Donald Trump – is said to be the biggest ever hosted, so an even bigger emphasis has been placed on security.
I was taken on an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of the mansion, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many police officers as I did on my drive into the grounds.
There is intense opposition to Trump’s visit to the UK, with protesters keen to make their feelings known, and the huge police presence is there to deter them.
Officers inside the venue, however, were few and far between, with Chequers staff carrying out all the last-minute finishing touches after weeks of preparation.
But this mansion in Buckinghamshire country is no stranger to pomp and ceremony. It was gifted to the nation in 1917 by Conservative MP Sir Arthur Lee – and it’s been used to woo world leaders ever since.
The Tory MP relinquished his home because he thought leaders would make better decisions if they could breathe the "high and pure air of the Chilterns," and almost every prime minister since the First World War has used it as an escape from Westminster – even Liz Truss managed to attend twice in less than 50 days.
Winston Churchill spent many hours at Chequers during World War II after initially staying away over security concerns. But he did eventually write some of his most famous wartime speeches, learnt of the Nazi invasion of Russia there, and that Japan had bombed Pearl Harbour there.
In a bid to impress Trump during the visit, the president was shown a line of Churchill memorabilia, including a special leather chair favoured by the former prime minister.
Nobody is allowed to sit on that chairhowever, Trump – never afraid of breaking the rules – couldn’t resist during his last state visit.
Playing host to diplomacy is one of Chequers’ main functions for prime ministers. Keir Starmer is using it to push for more investment into the UK from America. Tony Blair used it to try to court Putin before the president was excluded from the international community, and David Cameron used it to get closer to China.
Margaret Thatcher hosted soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev here before famously declaring this is a "man with whom I can do business".
And what better place to impress world leaders than a huge mansion steeped in history? As this Iron Lady once said, “I do not think anyone has stayed long at Chequers without falling in love with it.”
But meetings here have had a chequered success rate. It was here Theresa May agreed her doomed ‘Chequers Plan’ for Brexit in 2018, which then-foreign secretary Boris Johnson resigned over before eventually succeeding her as prime minister.
And in that role, it was at Chequers where Johnson chose to recover from Covid-19, which almost killed him in 2020.
Three years later, Rishi Sunak hosted Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Chequers and pledged more support for Ukraine, in a warning to Russia.
Most visits to the UK by world leaders do not involve protests, but there was never any doubt that Trump would.
But, despite huge protests last time, Prime Minister Starmer decided it would be worth it to make Trump the first leader ever to be invited for a second state visit.
Only time will tell whether that gamble will pay off.
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