REED COWAN:
00:00:04
That's the sound welcoming President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, along with King Charles and Queen Camilo. This played out at the historic Windsor Castle earlier as part of the president's unprecedented second state visit to the UK. We also know the president and first lady visited the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth and laid a wreath in tribute. So let's talk about all of what you're going to see by the time you see your dinnertime headlines. CBS News Senior White House and Political Correspondent Ed O'Keefe working overtime live from Windsor. So what's the president's goal, number one, for this trip? Overtime is right, Reed. Good to see you again. The goal of this trip is twofold. There's some substance, and then there's some sizzle. The sizzle is playing out today, obviously-- all of this. The largest, unprecedented, second ever state visit for a sitting world leader-- never before happened, never been this grand. All of it happening in the walls behind us here at Windsor Castle. By the way, you notice how the president and the first lady matched in plum, and the king and queen matched in some shades of blue there? That's good coordination on both sides. You don't often see the husband and wife coordinating quite like that, but they did today. Good for them-- any husband and wife. Not just these husband and wife. But anyway. So that's the sizzle. And the steak dinner is yet to come tonight. We're set to learn some details of who's coming to dinner, how it's going to go. Apparently, it took five days to set the table. That much we know, because it's just such an elaborate setup there in Saint George's Hall. All of that to come. Stay with us for that. The substance is all about trade-- business, business, business, right? This is the first trade agreement that the Trump administration was able to successfully get with any other country. The UK wanted to be first. Part of the reason they were able to be first is because of what's happening today. When you throw down an invite from the king, it gets the attention of the American president. And they were able to announce early details of the agreement in the spring and then again when they met at the G7 over the summer. And the rest of it will be sorted out and announced in the coming hours and day as the meeting continues through tomorrow. So, essentially, the president able to go home and say, look, my tariff plan is working. And the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will be able to turn to the British public and say, look, I'm sustaining the special relationship with this BFO trade deal that it now includes tens of billions of dollars in investment by US firms like Microsoft, Google, and NVIDIA to develop and to employ people in this country to help with artificial intelligence work, quantum computing. There are other deals regarding nuclear energy technology-- all of it designed to show that economically, militarily, and, to some extent, diplomatically, the special relationship endures. That is the sizzle and steak. I want to borrow another one of your food references that you used artfully when you covered the Iowa State Fair recently, and that's how the sausage is made. We're seeing these signs of unity there between the two countries, but we do know there are some deep divides. I'm thinking of King Charles and his recent address-- Yeah. -- to people in Canada at Parliament, and, of course, the issue of Russia and Ukraine. That issue, in particular, has got to be tricky business between the leadership there where you are and the President of the United States. Yeah. Canada aside, the Ukraine situation, for sure. Starmer is the co-chair of what they're calling here, in this part of the world, the coalition of the willing-- the European and British partners that are trying to sustain Ukraine militarily and diplomatically. So Starmer has this unique opportunity, tonight into tomorrow, to reiterate to the president concerns about the future of that war and try to get assurances that the United States will continue to stand with Ukraine as it continues to face this bombardment, unprecedented bombardment, from Vladimir Putin ever since he met with President Trump in Alaska a few weeks ago. On the Middle East, it's a little more difficult. Let's just say these two countries are on different paths to peace, because the UK is set to join a handful of other countries in the coming days when the UN General Assembly is held in New York, and announced plans to recognize Palestine as an independent state. That is not, and not in the near term, at least, will be the US policy towards that situation as it stands with Israel, of course, at the UN and feels far differently about that. So if that comes up at all, it may end up being a situation where they just agree to disagree.
