Trumps touch down: President and First Lady Melania arrive in Britain ahead of crunch Nato meeting

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania have arrived on UK soil ahead of the Nato summit in London this week.

Air Force One arrived at Stansted Airport this evening, and staff were pictured eagerly awaiting his arrival on the tarmac. 

The pair made their way off the plane, with Melania sporting a bright red coat and black heels, with the President wearing a suit and blue tie. 

The couple left the White House earlier today, with the President nearly forgetting wife Melania as she ran behind him in order to catch him up before they boarded helicopter Marine One, ahead of their international flight on Air Force One.

His arrival comes amid fears that the leader will wade into the UK election campaign, however it is believed that no formal meeting has yet been set up between current Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the President. 

The US President’s visit will be his third official trip to Britain during his time at the White House and the leader will be attending a reception at Buckingham Palace tomorrow, which Prince Andrew will not be attending after it was rumoured that the Queen banned him from the visit.

US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson welcomed ‘POTUS and FLOTUS to the UK’ and said it was ‘great to have them back’. 

World leaders will also be arriving in the capital this evening for the 70th Nato summit, where the President is set to question Washington’s commitment to the group. 

As Trump landed this evening, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed him to Britain with a letter demanding he will not try to push medicine prices up through a post-Brexit trade deal.

To mark Mr Trump’s arrival in London for the start of the Nato summit, Mr Corbyn has written to him asking for reassurances that his administration will not try to include selling higher-priced US drugs to the NHS on its trade wish list.

Last week, the Labour Party leader called a press conference at which he brandished an unredacted report that gave details of meetings between US and UK officials, where they discussed the stipulations of a free trade deal between the two nations after Britain leaves the European Union.

The document included confirmation of a round of meetings ‘dedicated solely to patents and pharmaceuticals’, where officials explained how drugs were approved for use on the NHS and described a US request for ‘total market access’ to UK public services – a form of privatisation – as a ‘baseline’ for an agreement.

In his letter, Mr Corbyn told the president he wanted ‘assurances’ over the ‘prices paid to US drugs companies as a consequence of any such UK trade deal with the US’.

Earlier today Mr Trump made the short trip on Marine One from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland before he boarded Air Force One bound for London.

It is thought he could wade into the election campaign, with all of the major political parties in the UK braced for a potential bombshell intervention this week. 

Earlier today he tweeted a take-off video, writing: ‘Heading to Europe to represent our country and fight hard for the American people while the Do Nothing Democrats purposely scheduled an impeachment hoax hearing on the same date as Nato. Not nice!’ 

Mr Trump was referring to the House impeachment report on him which will be unveiled in the US today behind closed doors for key politicians.

Democrats are pushing ahead with the inquiry despite the White House’s declaration it will not participate in the first Judiciary Committee hearing.

Democrats claim the report will speak for itself over what they called the evidence of ‘wrongdoing and misconduct’ by the Republican over his actions towards Ukraine.  

It comes as Nigel Farage warned UK politicians not to demonise Mr Trump as he claimed it would be a ‘great mistake’ to alienate him during his visit to Britain.

Mr Trump has previously expressed concern about the cost of Nato and has been unhappy at how much the other 28 members contribute.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, he said that the US had been ‘treated very unfairly by friends of ours, members of Nato’ over a period of years.

During his presidential campaign he called the alliance ‘obsolete’ and criticised other members whose security he thought was being subsidised by the States.

However, he has since U-turned on that stance, to the relief of many, saying: ‘I said it was obsolete. It’s no longer obsolete.’ 

The two-day Nato summit will take place tomorrow and on Wednesday at the Grove Hotel in Chandler’s Cross on the outskirts of the Hertfordshire town of Watford. 

The President is set to visit Buckingham Palace for a reception tomorrow, before he joins world leaders at the golf resort near Watford the following day. 

Mr Trump undertook a state visit to the UK between June 3 and 5 this year having visited for the first time as US President back in July 2018.

He remains a divisive figure in British politics and last night Mr Farage defended his ally as the Brexit Party leader took part in a seven-way ITV election debate.

Mr Farage came to Mr Trump’s defence after Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said that while the special relationship is important she did not believe Mr Trump shared British values. 

Pointing to previous comments made by the US President about sexually assaulting women, Ms Swinson added: ‘The last thing we should have done is to roll out the red carpet for a state visit.’ 

But Mr Farage, who interviewed Mr Trump on his LBC radio show at the end of October, said that while some of the US President’s comments were wrong, it was essential to consider the national interest in maintaining links with the US.

He said: ‘It was crass and it was crude and it was wrong – men say dreadful things sometimes.

‘If all of us were called out for what we did on a night out after a drink, none of us would…’

At that point he was interrupted by Ms Swinson who said: ‘Is that what you do on a night out after a drink?’

Mr Farage replied: ‘He is President of the USA and that relationship matters.

‘You are so anti-American you are prepared to put your hatred of Trump above our national interest. That is a great mistake.’

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said Mr Farage was wrong to defend the US President.

He said: ‘It can never be acceptable for a man to talk about grabbing a woman’s p***y. If you think it is you should be ashamed of yourself.’

Meanwhile, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon claimed Boris Johnson was trying to pursue the same ‘strong man’ tactics of the US president.

She said: ‘Donald Trump’s attitudes are wrong and they are dangerous. In Boris Johnson we have got somebody who is trying to be like him.’

But Tory Chief Secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak said that the relationship with the US was essential to Britain’s national security and should not be denigrated.

‘The relationship we have with America is incredibly important for keeping us safe,’ he said.