Trump was whisked away to an oasis of warm greetings at a black-tie reception at Blenheim, birthplace of Winston Churchill, the larger-than-life British leader cited by the president as a model of leadership. That was just one of several helicopter rides on the agenda for Trump, whose staff opted to keep him largely out of central London and the swarms of demonstrators who are likely to provide some of the defining images of his first official trip to the U.K. Hundreds of demonstrators chanted outside the U.S. ambassador’s residence where Trump was staying on the outskirts of London, providing a preview of the forceful protests expected during his two-day British stay. BRUSSELS — President Donald Trump traded one hot spot for another Thursday, leaving behind a contentious NATO gathering in Brussels and moving on to Britain, where he found a government in turmoil and sizable protests shadowing his every move. All was serene, however, during a lavish evening welcome ceremony at Blenheim Palace. Protesters held up placards along the route at Blenheim Palace prior to President Trump’s arrival. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Trump’s Marine One departure from the ambassador’s residence was met by jeers from demonstrators banging pots and pans, and another pack of protesters lined roads near the palace. Their signs read: ‘‘Dump Trump,’’ ‘’Lock Him Up,’’ ‘’There Will Be Hell Toupee.’’ Police worked overtime, their days off cancelled. Advertisement Trump was greeted at the palace by British Prime Minster Theresa May, whose government has been rocked by resignations from ongoing tumult over Brexit, the nation’s contentious vote to leave the European Union. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Before leaving Brussels, Trump played down the protests but acknowledged that he expected tension in Britain, which also was reeling from its soccer team’s defeat in the World Cup semifinals. ‘‘I’m going to a few hot spots,’’ Trump said, looking ahead to Britain and his summit in Finland on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. ‘‘And I said, ‘Putin may be the easiest of them all.’ You never know. But I’m going to a pretty hot spot right now — right? — with a lot of resignations.’’ Advertisement The outdoor arrival ceremony at Blenheim — Trump wore a tuxedo and first lady Melania Trump a butter-yellow, chiffon off-the-shoulder gown — was a grand affair marked by a military band in bearskin hats, hundreds of business leaders in black tie and gorgeous setting sunlight. Melania Trump arrived for the black-tie dinner with business leaders at Blenheim Palace. AFP/Getty Images The mood was far less jovial in Belgium earlier in the day. During his 28 hours there, Trump had disparaged longtime NATO allies, cast doubt on his commitment to the mutual-defense organization and sent the 29-member pact into frenzied emergency session. Then, in a head-snapping pivot at the end, he declared the alliance a ‘‘fine-tuned machine’’ that had acceded to his demands to speed up increases in military spending to relieve pressure on the U.S. budget. But there was little evidence other leaders had bowed to his wishes on that front. Trump claimed member nations had agreed to boost their defense budgets significantly and reaffirmed — after days of griping that the U.S. was being taken advantage of by its allies — that the U.S. remains faithful to the accord. ‘‘The United States’ commitment to NATO remains very strong,’’ Trump told reporters at a surprise news conference following an emergency session of NATO members held to address his threats. Neither Trump nor NATO offered specifics on what Trump said he had achieved. French President Emmanuel Macron quickly disputed Trump’s claim that NATO allies had agreed to boost defense spending beyond their existing goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2024. Advertisement ‘‘There is a communique that was published yesterday; it’s very detailed,’’ Macron said. ‘‘It confirms the goal of 2 percent by 2024. That’s all.’’ Trump berated NATO members in Brussels for failing to spend enough of their money on military matters, accusing Europe of freeloading off the U.S. and raising doubts about whether he would come to their defense if attacked. ‘‘Yesterday I let them know that I was extremely unhappy with what was happening,’’ he said. ‘‘They have substantially upped their commitment and now we’re very happy and have a very, very powerful, very, very strong NATO.’’ He added: ‘‘I can you tell you that NATO now is a really a fine-tuned machine. People are paying money that they never paid before. They’re happy to do it. And the United States is being treated much more fairly.’’ But several leaders said the gathering produced no new spending commitments. Instead, they said, members reaffirmed the need to stay on track with military-budget increases that have already been underway and were branded insufficient by Trump a day earlier. ‘‘I made clear that we know that we have to do more and that we have been doing so for quite a while,’’ said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cited a ‘‘new sense of urgency, and all allies agreed to redouble their efforts.’’ Advertisement U.S. leaders for decades have pushed NATO allies to spend more on defense to share the collective defense burden more equitably. NATO countries in 2014 set a goal of moving toward spending 2 percent of GDP on defense within 10 years. NATO has estimated that 15 members, or just over half, will meet the benchmark by 2024 based on current trends.<doc-sep>Mr Trump, who will also spend time with the Queen during his two-day working visit, said earlier of the British public: "I think they agree with me on immigration... You see what's going on throughout the world with immigration... I think that's why Brexit happened."<doc-sep>So much for those threats of a 'carnival of resistance'. It was a spectacular carnival of pageantry which greeted Donald Trump last night as he finally paid his first presidential visit to the UK. On the magnificent forecourt of Oxfordshire's Blenheim Palace, our greatest non-royal residence, the American President was feted with a stunning personalised twilight parade and recital by the Massed Bands of the Household Division. Short of Trooping the Trump Colour, this was about as good as it gets for a visiting leader. It concluded with bagpipes from the land of Mr Trump's mother's birth serenading the President with a peerless Amazing Grace, before he was led in to dinner by Theresa May. And in they went hand-in-hand, just as they had walked in to the White House on their first meeting. It was a spectacular carnival of pageantry which greeted Donald Trump last night as he finally paid his first presidential visit to the UK Pictured: Jeremy Hunt MP adjusting his bowtie Protesters gathered at the security fence watch as US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump leave in Marine One from the US ambassador's residence, Winfield House Last night's affair was the quasi-state banquet for what was originally supposed to have been a state visit. At least it involved a bona fide palace and royal music (the bands of the Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards plus the Countess of Wessex's String Orchestra). The arrival of Donald and Melania Trump was even heralded by the state trumpeters of the Household Cavalry – last seen on American telly welcoming another American citizen, Meghan Markle, to her own wedding in May. As with Windsor Castle, here was another unbeatable global advertisement for the British tourist industry. Inside the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, the President was treated to an impeccably patriotic dinner of Scottish salmon, Hereford beef and strawberries and (Cornish) clotted cream. The birthplace of Winston Churchill could hardly have looked more regal, Vanbrugh's Cotswold stone grand entrance bathed in the honeyed glow of a perfect summer evening. This is a stately home which remains in fabulous condition thanks, in part, to an earlier American billionaire (William Vanderbilt, the Victorian railroad tycoon, whose daughter Consuelo married the debt-ridden ninth Duke). Dignitaries including International Trade minister Liam Fox (centre) awaited the President's arrival for the Blenheim dinner Mrs May said that the history, language, values and culture shared by the UK and US 'inspire mutual respect' and make the two nations 'not just the closest of allies, but the dearest of friends' US First Lady Melania Trump, US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May stand on steps in the Great Court watching and listening to the bands of the Scots, Irish and Welsh Guards perform a ceremonial welcome Several protesters hold up their placards outside Blenheim Palace, where President Donald Trump will have dinner tonight The royal component of this trip will come today when the Trumps fly in to Windsor for tea with the Queen before disappearing to the President's Ayrshire golfing resort for the weekend. After all the squawking, he is finding the natives here are not nearly as hostile as had been predicted. Earlier, his Marine One helicopter descended on the US ambassador's lawn in London to be greeted by two Palestinian protesters plus one dog and a shouty man pushing a bicycle, all gathered on the other side of a heavily policed security fence. By yesterday evening, as the first organised demonstration against this tour assembled outside Winfield House, the US Embassy residence, the numbers had increased to around 100 people with whistles, tambourines, Socialist Worker placards and 'Stop The War' signs. We had been promised a 'wall of sound'. However, the banging of a dozen saucepans and a modest chant of 'f*** Trump' was soon drowned out by the sound of Marine One taking off again as Donald and Melania set off for Blenheim Palace. Despite all the much-hyped opposition to this visit in the capital, I counted considerably more people queuing up earlier outside the Sherlock Holmes Museum, round the corner in Baker Street. The largest crowd in this part of the capital yesterday was the line for the waxworks at Madame Tussauds. The fake Donald Trump, thus far, has proved a bigger draw than the real thing. From left, first lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May watch during the arrival ceremony at Blenheim Palace It is now a year and a half since Theresa May visited Washington with an invitation for a full state visit. That it has been downgraded to a short 'working' visit and taken so long to arrange has been largely down to the visceral hostility of the British Left and assorted pressure groups. By announcing that our most important ally is 'not welcome' in Britain, public figures such as the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Vince Cable, have hardly made Britain an appealing destination. In the meantime, other leaders, including France's Emmanuel Macron, have been more than ready and willing to woo Mr Trump, regardless of his Twitter outbursts and trade wars. By letting exaggerated threats of civil disorder dictate the arrangements for this week's visit, the British Government may conclude that it has been missing a trick as it attempts to forge a post-Brexit future. The last time that Mr Trump landed in Britain was on the very day that Britain voted to leave the European Union. As soon as he arrived at his Turnberry golf resort that morning, he announced that Brexit would be 'beautiful', and he has remained a firm fan ever since. However, the fabled transatlantic 'special relationship' has not felt this unspecial for years – not even in early 2016 when President Barack Obama branded David Cameron's foreign policy 'a s*** show'. We probably have to go back to the 1960s, when President Lyndon B Johnson called Harold Wilson 'a creep' for his non-participation in the Vietnam War, to find the bilateral atmosphere as lukewarm as this.<doc-sep>Campaign groups and trade unions have organised a schedule of protests to follow Donald Trump on his visit to the UK next week, including a six metre angry baby balloon that will fly over Westminster from Parliament Square. Demonstrations begin next Thursday evening at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, and in Regent’s Park, London, near to where the protesters believe the president will have dinner, and then at the US ambassador’s residence, where they believe he will stay the night. The “Trump baby” balloon is due to fly on the Friday morning, after campaigners raised £16,000 to pay for it and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, gave permission for it to fly. “The mayor supports the right to peaceful protest and understands that this can take many different forms,” a spokesman for Khan said. Leo Murray, an environmental campaigner behind the balloon stunt, said the protest was intended to play on Trump’s psychology. “He’s a deeply insecure man, and that is the only leverage we have over him. If we want his attention, we have to do something that humiliates him.” 01:38 'Fragile, like the president's ego': Trump Baby blimp prepares for takeoff Further protests will take place on Friday morning near Chequers, the country house where it is thought Trump will meet Theresa May for breakfast, with the main demonstration in London starting outside the BBC’s headquarters at 2pm and ending in Trafalgar Square at 5pm, where organisers hope “very large numbers” – in the tens of thousands – will attend. Details of the protests, listed on Facebook, are being organised by a coalition called Together Against Trump. Its membership includes the TUC and other trade unions, Stop the War, Friends of the Earth, CND and the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting grassroots group, Momentum. The Labour leader, however, is not expected to attend the protests personally, although the party is opposed to Trump’s official visit to the UK and it expects many members to attend the protests. “People will make their feelings known,” a party spokesman said. The president is also due to meet the Queen, most likely on Friday at Windsor Castle, a location several miles outside London and slightly more secluded than Buckingham Palace. Trump is then expected to head to Scotland, the birthplace of his mother and where he owns two golf courses. There will be demonstrations on Friday evening in Glasgow and again on Saturday in Edinburgh at noon, where organisers promise a “carnival of resistance” against Trump with stalls, talks, music and games such as “Toss the welly at Trump”, “Trump’s head coconut shy” and “Mini golf”. Meanwhile it emerged that around 150 business leaders have been invited to a black-tie dinner with president Trump at an unnamed location during next week’s visit. Due to security concerns, guests to the exclusive dinner – which reportedly includes the British chemical billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the BlackRock, chief Larry Fink – have only been told the venue is between one and two hours from London. Speaking to the Financial Times, one lobbyist whose client will attend the dinner, said: “It’s a bit like those 1980s warehouse raves where no one knows until just before.” Trump is flying into the UK following the Nato summit in Brussels next week, before heading off to a summit with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Helsinki, Finland, on 16 July, a day after the World Cup final in Moscow. A spokesperson for Together Against Trump said: “We regard it as a victory that Donald Trump does not appear to have any official engagements in London or anywhere with a large population. Instead he will stay hidden away in country estates and castles.”<doc-sep>
US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived at Blenheim Palace to the strains of a military band Friday morning for a formal dinner hosted by UK Prime Minister Theresa May. But amid the pageantry of the welcome, Mr Trump’s first visit to Britain since becoming President comes as he cast doubt on Ms May’s plans for leaving the EU and with protests forming across a country where he says people “like him a lot”. As Mr Trump’s helicopter, Marine One, took off from London’s Regent’s Park en rout to Blenheim Palace, protesters massed outside in opposition to the trip, which is not the full state visit he was originally promised. Security has been dramatically ramped up in London, with UK media reporting that SAS troops are on standby to counter any attack or incident, while some 10,000 police officers will be on duty throughout the visit. A YouGov poll on Wednesday local time showed 77 per cent had an unfavourable opinion of the US President and just 50 per cent thought his visit should go ahead. “I think they like me a lot in the UK,” Mr Trump said in Brussels, where he attended a NATO summit. “I think they agree with me on immigration. I’m very strong on immigration.” More than 60,000 people have signed up to demonstrate in London later Friday when protesters intend to fly a large balloon over parliament portraying Mr Trump as an orange, snarling baby. London mayor Sadiq Khan called for all gatherings to be “peaceful and good-spirited”. Mr Khan said ‘trouble makers are not welcome’ and the protests were “not anti-American”, more a demonstration of the UK’s expectation of the “highest standards”. A campaign is also under way to get Green Day’s 2004 hit American Idiot to the top of the UK Singles Chart. After the banquet at Blenheim Palace, Mr Trump and Ms May will hold talks the following day at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence. Mr Trump’s trip coincides with a tumultuous week for May after two senior ministers resigned in protest at her plans for trade with the EU after Britain leaves next March. Ms May hopes the President will help to accelerate a future free trade deal with the US, although his public comments on Brexit cast a shadow over the meetings. “I’m going to a pretty hot spot right now, right? With a lot of resignations,” Trump told a news conference at the NATO summit in Brussels on Thursday night. Ms May’s “business-friendly” Brexit proposal was agreed by her cabinet only last Friday after two years of wrangling, though some leave supporters consider it a betrayal. “The people voted to break it up, so I imagine that’s what they’ll do. But maybe they’re taking a little bit of a different route, so I don’t know if that’s what they voted for,” Mr Trump said. Asked about Mr Trump’s comments at a hastily-arranged meeting with journalists, Ms May said she was delivering the wishes of the British people. Mr Trump, who has repeatedly praised Brexit, has expressed enthusiasm for a wide-ranging trade deal with Britain after its EU departure in March next year. The President’s visit will also include a trip to Windsor Castle for tea with 92-year-old Queen Elizabeth. -with agencies