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On Sept. 16–18, U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled to the United Kingdom for a state visit. The British royals provided glittering pomp and ceremony, with activities including a state banquet at Windsor Castle. The president also met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at his official country estate, Chequers. The British charm offensive sought to ensure positive relations with Washington at a time of heightened uncertainty in trans-Atlantic relations. We asked five experts to highlight and evaluate the key issues shaping the U.S.-British relationship and how British leaders are positioning themselves in the wake of the visit.Read more below.Andrew Mumford Professor of War Studies at the University of NottinghamTrump’s unprecedented second state visit to the United Kingdom revealed an uncomfortable truth about the state of the “special relationship”: The soft power center of the relationship now lies with the royal family, not with Downing Street. Starmer has brazenly utilized the royals as a bartering chip to encourage more favorable treatment from the president, and Trump reveled in the pageantry of King Charles’s reception at Windsor Castle. The strategy seems to have partially paid off. It is hard to imagine Trump using such warm words about U.S.-British relations — “special does not begin to do it justice” — in regards to any other European nation right now.Trump left London with fond memories of the royal treatment, and Starmer received a “Technology Prosperity Deal,” which promised 150 billion pounds in investment from American technology firms. London’s management of Trump seems to come down to this: avoid discussing hard topics and treat him like a king in order to maintain the illusion of “specialness.”Matthew Savill Director of Military Sciences at the Royal United Services InstituteIn the wake of Trump’s state visit, the U.S.-British defense relationship appears to be