Donald Trump’s helicopter made an unexpected diversion to Luton while en route to Stansted with the president and First Lady Melania Trump on board.
Marine One was transporting the couple from Chequers following a joint press conference with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer when the pilots were forced to redirect. Emergency personnel were deployed at the airfield after the landing.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “Due to a minor hydraulic issue, and out of an abundance of caution, the pilots landed at a local airfield before reaching Stansted airport.”
She added that “the president and first lady safely boarded the support helicopter” and were later able to board Air Force One for the return journey from the UK.
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Trump and Melania were later seen waving after arriving at Stansted, about 20 minutes behind schedule.
The president joked about the incident while speaking to reporters on Air Force One. “Fly safely. You know why I say that? Because I’m on the flight. I want to get home, otherwise I wouldn’t care,” he said.
The emergency landing was one of the few bumps during Trump’s visit to Britain. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the trip a “new era” for the UK-US relationship.
The visit included royal pomp and ceremony. There was a state banquet with a “transatlantic cocktail,” and a military display featuring the Red Arrows flying jets of red, white, and blue over Windsor Castle. Trump’s favorite song, Y.M.C.A by the Village People, played as a marching band performed.
Trump and Melania were shown a letter from Abraham Lincoln to Queen Victoria and laid a wreath at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth II. After the royal ceremonies, politics took center stage.
He and Starmer signed a tech deal boosting US-UK cooperation on AI, quantum computing, and emerging technologies. Trump said the agreement would help the two nations “dominate the future of artificial intelligence.”
US firms committed £150 billion in investments in the UK, including £31 billion from top tech companies. Microsoft announced £22 billion for AI infrastructure and the country’s largest AI supercomputer. Google pledged £5 billion, and Nvidia will deploy 120,000 advanced processors to support the UK’s AI sector.
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
