President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were on Marine One when it had to make an emergency landing in the UK.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump and Melania had to switch helicopters because of a “hydraulics issue.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, the pilots landed at a local airfield before reaching Stansted Airport,” Karoline Leavitt said. “The president and first lady safely boarded the support helicopter.”
The Marine One trip was only supposed to last 20 minutes, from the prime minister’s Chequers landing zone to Stansted Airport. However, the president and first lady took almost 40 minutes to reach the airport due to the issue.
King Charles II and Queen Camilla are welcoming the Trumps for an unusual second state visit, where they will talk about a substantial U.S. investment in the U.K.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised a £250 billion mutual investment package between the UK and President Trump called the US-UK alliance as the most “natural partnership in the world.”
Trump spent the morning at Windsor Castle with King Charles III. Then he flew by Marine One to Chequers, the prime minister’s country home, for a day of meetings about politics and business.
After private meetings with the two presidents, which probably covered Ukraine, the Gaza war, the environment, and free speech, Trump and Starmer met with business executives for a reception.
Starmer dubbed the agreement that the two leaders struck a “tech-prosperity deal.” Trump said it would create “billions of dollars of opportunities” and provide the U.S. “better access to the UK’s world-class aerospace supply chain,” which actually is world-class. Many people don’t realize how important that asset is.
“We’re taking the next logical step with a historic agreement on science and technology partnerships, and this will create new government, academic, and private sector cooperation in areas such as AI, which is taking over the world. I’m looking at you guys, you’re taking over the world, Jensen, I don’t know what you’re doing here. I hope you’re right,” Trump said.
“All I can say is we both hope you’re right. But it’s pretty amazing. Quantum computing, fusion, 6G, and civil nuclear energy align our nations through the approach of centered deregulation and innovation. And we’re going to have a lot of deregulation and a tremendous amount of innovation just happening. But this new accord is already helping spur a massive wave of private sector deals worth over $350 billion alone, headlined by a $136 billion from Blackstone,” Trump added.
“That’s very nice. Steve, thank you. That’s why you have that location, I think. (Laughter) It’s considered the best seat of the year. Yours is pretty good, too, Jensen. That’s good. That’s great, Steve. You know what you’re doing better than anybody. American company X Energy and British company Centrica has been announcing and really for a long while they’ve been talking about this deal, the deployment of modular nuclear reactors across the U.K., all across the U.K.,” Trump continued.
“And it’s been in the wind for a couple of years, and now we’re getting it done, generating more than $50 billion in economic value, creating up to 2,500 jobs, and powering 1.5 million homes. That’s a lot of homes. Seven decades after British genius Alan Turing pioneered the field. This agreement will also help America and our British allies dominate the future of artificial intelligence. You need the energy. You have to have the energy. That’s one thing I learned very quickly. They need a lot of electricity,” the president added.
The president returned to the White House on Friday after his long trip overseas this week.
