President Donald Trump’s state visit to Britain this week is shaping up to be less about ceremonial pageantry and more about a bitter dispute over censorship and freedom of speech.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had hoped to use the meeting at Chequers to press for relief from American steel tariffs and to focus on Ukraine and Gaza, but Washington insiders say Trump intends to put Britain’s clampdowns on speech at the very top of the agenda.
The president will land on Tuesday evening. He will attend the usual state functions, including a carriage procession at Windsor, a banquet hosted by King Charles, and a wreath-laying at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II before heading to Chequers on Thursday for what now promises to be a fraught meeting.
The free speech battle is not new. According to The Independent, Trump previously “berated Keir Starmer over free speech” during private talks at his Turnberry resort in the summer, according to a source close to the president.
That same source added, “There is absolutely no doubt that free speech is going to be one of, if not the top issue, when the two hold talks.”
Fueling the row are recent cases that have drawn international attention: Lucy Connolly’s imprisonment over a tweet, the armed police arrest of comedy writer Graham Linehan at Heathrow, and the UK’s sweeping Online Safety Act.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has already carried the argument to Congress, urging Washington to punish Britain for criminalizing online speech.
