British taxpayers picked up more than £400,000 bill to host Donald Trump on his three-day state visit including £108,000 Buckingham Palace banquet – while security operation cost £3.5m
- An additional £242,000 of costs were labelled ‘venue/production costs’
- Mr Trump’s visit to the UK cost Scotland Yard almost £3.5million
- In contrast the Dutch king’s two-day tour in October 2018 cost £135,000
Over £400,000 of public money was spent by Whitehall on food, entertainment and press conferences during President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK last June.
The figures, released by the Foreign Office, show over £100,000 was spent on entertainment, with a £108,000 bill for the Buckingham Palace state banquet, according to i newspaper, while an additional £242,000 of costs for Mr Trump’s three-day visit were labelled ‘venue/production’ for events such as press conferences.
Meanwhile The Metropolitan Police spent almost £3.5 million as a result of the visit.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth raise their glasses to make a toast at the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace in London, June 3, 2019
Figures previously released by The Met show the force’s total costs came in at £3,419,905, with more than 6,300 officers deployed across the visit.
Over £31,000 was spent on accommodation costs associated with the trip with the president said to have booked a floor of the luxurious Corinthia Hotel in Westminster for himself, Melania Trump, the First Lady and his accompanying party.
The bill for printing the official programme for the visit was £3,000.
The figures represent the cost to the Foreign Office of hosting Mr Trump and an official delegation of up to ten ministers or senior officials during the official part of his tour.
Highlights of Mr Trump’s visit included D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth and a state banquet held by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The State Banquet cost over £100,000. Queen Elizabeth II and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive with others through the East Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London ahead of the State Banquet on June 3, 2019
The President led the 170 guests at the state banquet who were treated to a lavish feast of halibut, Windsor lamb and strawberry sable amidst the splendour of the Buckingham Palace ballroom.
Mr Trump is teetotal but fine wines were served during the meal including Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1990 and Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 2014.
A breakdown from The Met shows more than £800,000 was spent on overtime for police officers, £215,000 on infrastructure, £31,385 on fleet costs, £23,000 on hotels, £34,481 on catering and £41,000 on mutual aid.
Just four arrests were made during the visit despite thousands of protestors gathering in the capital.
On June 3, the day the president flew into Stansted Airport aboard Air Force One, there were 2,714 police – of rank between police officer and deputy assistant commissioner – on duty, as well as 14 other police staff.
The following day, which saw the largest of the protests, some 3,249 police officers were on duty along with 30 other police staff, the figures show.
There were 411 officers deployed in London as Mr Trump attended a D-Day event in Portsmouth, some 306 were in place on June 2, as the force prepared for the president’s arrival, while just 38 were on duty on June 6 as he visited Ireland.
In contrast the Dutch king’s two-day tour in October 2018 cost £135,000. While the Afghan president, arrived 12 days later, after the President, at a cost of £40,000.