Donald Trump’s Marine One helicopter made an emergency landing at a UK airport on Thursday with the US President and his wife Melania on board.
The presidential chopper suffered ‘a hydraulic issue’ while flying to Stansted Airport from the Prime Minister’s estate at Chequers, where Donald Trump had been meeting with Sir Keir Starmer for a joint press conference.
Officials said the aircraft put down at Luton Airport ‘out of an abundance of caution’.
The US President, who has been in the UK for a historic second state visit, transferred to a ‘support’ helicopter which was flying in formation and resumed the journey to meet up with Air Force One plane at Stansted.
No one was injured in the drama and the President arrived at the airport 20 minutes behind schedule.
The couple then boarded Air Force One for their return journey back to the White House.
Photos from the scene show emergency vehicles and armed police on the tarmac at Luton Airport.
Separate images show both of Mr Trump’s helicopters, known as Marine One and Marine Two, just off the runway.
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.
‘The President and first lady safely boarded the support helicopter.
‘The President and first lady were later able to board Air Force One for the return journey from the UK.’
Mr Trump has been using his helicopter Marine One to travel between different locations on his historic visit to the UK.
The trip has seen King Charles III and the US President both hail the ‘special relationship’ between the two countries.
And today Mr Trump met Mr Starmer for a joint press conference at Chequers where they discussed the small boats crisis.
The US President, whose harsh border controls have slashed illegal migration to near zero, said the UK was now facing a ‘very similar’ problem in the Channel and had to take much tougher action.
Mr Trump also hailed the ‘incredible bond’ between Britain and the US – and spoke at length about his love for ‘these beautiful isles’.
But he warned that Britain cannot afford to carry with its softly-softly approach to the Channel crisis and disagreed with his host’s stance on a number of issues.
Mr Trump said huge numbers of foreign criminals, gangsters and mental patients had been entering the US illegally until he took drastic action, including deporting some to hellhole jails in El Salvador.
The President, whose mother was born in Scotland, added: ‘I think your situation is very similar. You have people coming in and I told the Prime Minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use.
‘It destroys countries from within.’
Sir Keir insisted that Labour was taking the Channel crisis seriously.
He said there was no ‘silver bullet’ but trumpeted the fact the first migrant was finally sent back to France on Thursday under a new ‘one in, one out’ deal following more than 30,000 arrivals this year.
But he also faced barbs from Mr Trump over Gaza, Net Zero and North Sea oil.
During a 45-minute press conference at the PM’s country retreat:
- Mr Trump told Sir Keir to scale back Labour’s controversial Net Zero target and ‘drill, baby, drill’.
- The President dismissed the UK’s focus on wind farms as ‘a disaster’ and a ‘very expensive joke’.
- Sir Keir squirmed when asked about Lord Mandelson, while the US President denied ever knowing the disgraced former US ambassador, despite welcoming him into the White House just nine days earlier.
- Mr Trump publicly criticised Sir Keir’s impending decision to recognise a Palestine state, suggesting it would not help release Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
- He also said Vladimir Putin had ‘really let me down’ as he hinted at fresh sanctions to force the Russian tyrant to the negotiating table.
- The two leaders signed a technology deal which will bring £150 billion investment to the UK – but gave no details of the concessions Britain has offered in return.
- Mr Trump revealed the US is trying to take the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan to bring Chinese nuclear facilities within bombing range.
Thursday’s press conference in the historic Great Hall at Chequers came at the end of a two-day state visit that saw Mr Trump lavished with pomp and ceremony, including a glittering state dinner at Windsor Castle.
Downing Street had been fretting for days that the event would be overshadowed by the controversy over Sir Keir’s decision to sack Lord Mandelson over his friendship with notorious paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
With President Trump also facing questions back home about his own past links to Epstein, the issue had the potential to create a diplomatic disaster.
When the issue of Lord Mandelson was raised, in the last question of the press conference, both men appeared desperate to move on as quickly as possible.
The President outlandishly claimed: ‘I don’t know him actually. ‘I had heard that,’ he added, ‘and I think maybe the Prime Minister would be better speaking of that. It was a choice that he made and I don’t know.’
Speaking directly to Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: ‘What is your answer to that?
The PM replied: ‘It’s very straightforward. Some information came to light last week which wasn’t available when he was appointed, and I made a decision about it, and that’s very clear.’
