Donald Trump arrives in UK amid political chaos and rising trade tensions

US President Donald Trump has arrived in the UK on Monday amid an atmosphere of local political tensions and anger over comments made by the US ambassador who suggested the NHS should be "on the table" in future trade negotiations.

Trump will meet the Queen on the first day of his state visit but, as occurred on Trump's last trip to the UK, many Britons are protesting against his presence and the giant ‘Trump baby’ inflatable has taken to the air once again.

His visit comes at a time when the UK government is in chaos, with Prime Minister Theresa May set to step down this week and a leadership contest for the Tory party in the works.

Trump will meet with the PM on Tuesday and Wednesday and he is also expected to sit down with candidate Boris Johnson and with Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage. In particular, Trump is expected to push the government on the need to exclude Huawei from the UK’s 5G network, with some Tory MPs up for the leadership having already said that they would consider scrapping their relationship with Huawei after US ambassador Woody Johnson said it was “a big risk”.

Trump may also be queried into the ambassador’s controversial comments about the NHS.

On Sunday, Johnson said that as part of any post-Brexit trade deal, the UK would need to allow US private sector involvement in the NHS and US agricultural products, including chlorinated chicken, to enter the country.

Trump told reporters before leaving the US: “As you know, they want to do trade with the United States, and I think there’s an opportunity for a very big trade deal at some point in the near future. And we’ll see how that works out.”

May in turn called the visit “a significant week for the special relationship and an opportunity to further strengthen our already close partnership”.

She also stressed the need to build closer trading ties.

“We are the largest investors in each other’s economies and our strong trading relationship and close business links create jobs, opportunities and wealth for our citizens,” she said. “The government is looking forward to building on the strong and enduring ties between our countries”.

Trump, who has said on numerous occasions that the UK would do well if it pursued a no-deal Brexit will probably advise the Tory party to go down that road.