By DANICA KIRKA, Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Windsor Castle staff are setting the 164-feet-long mahogany table. Grooms are buffing the hooves of the horses that will pull the royal carriages. And the military honor guard is drilling to ensure every step lands with precision.

Throughout the halls and grounds of the almost 1,000-year-old castle west of London, hundreds of people are working to make sure King Charles III puts on the best show possible when he welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump for his historic second state visit this week.

The visit, featuring glittering tiaras, brass bands and a sumptuous banquet served on 200-year-old silver, is a display of the pomp and ceremony that Britain does like no one else. But it’s a spectacle with a purpose: to bolster ties with one of the world’s most powerful men at a time when his America First policies are roiling longstanding trade and security relationships.

FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and Britain’s Prince Charles toast, during the Return Dinner in Winfield House, the residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America to the UK, in Regent’s Park, part of the president’s state visit to the UK, in London, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. (Chris Jackson/Pool Photo via AP, File)

“We’re buttering up to him,” said Robert Lacey, a royal historian and consultant on the Netflix series “The Crown.”

“He wouldn’t come to Britain if he wouldn’t have the chance to stay at Windsor Castle, probably pay homage to the (late) queen he admires so much, and to meet the king.”

Soft power in action

Three centuries after Britain’s kings and queens gave up political power and settled for the role of ceremonial head of state, the royals remain a robust instrument of “soft power,” which the elected government uses to reward friends and wring concessions out of reluctant allies.

State visits are the monarchy’s ultimate tool, with world leaders vying to get the full royal treatment.

During seven decades on the throne, the late Queen Elizabeth II hosted everyone from Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu to South African President Nelson Mandela.

The royals have also hosted the last four U.S. presidents, though not all were full-scale state visits.

Hospitality with purpose

While the impact of soft power is hard to quantify, it contributes to a feeling of friendship that “may incline another party to be more open to your entreaties,” said Martin Farr, an expert in modern British history at Newcastle University.

Related Articles

Rep. McCaul will retire, but GOP hawk worries about World War III after Russian escalation

Fed Governor Lisa Cook claimed 2nd residence as ‘vacation home,’ undercutting Trump fraud claims

Appeals court rules Trump administration can end legal protections for more than 400,000 migrants

The EPA wants to end a requirement that large polluters report their greenhouse gas emissions

Trump administration to award a no-bid contract on research into vaccines and autism

Six years ago, Britain sought Trump’s support as it prepared to leave the European Union. This time the U.K. is lobbying for favorable trade terms and help in combating Russian aggression in Ukraine.

“A new Trump presidency, a new prime minister, a different government, but the same sense of panic and the same feeling that the biggest lever we can pull with this president is to flatter him and to try and connect him with something he seems genuinely to be impressed by, which is monarchy, and the fact that his mother of course was born” in Scotland, Farr said.

So Prime Minister Keir Starmer hurried to Washington in February, just five weeks after Trump began his second term, and handed him the king’s invitation for a state visit.

It was the first time any world leader received the honor of a second state visit, and the first time the invitation was delivered in a personal letter from the king, which Trump proudly displayed for TV cameras.

“It’s a great, great honor, and that says at Windsor,” Trump said as he praised the king. “That’s really something.”

Pomp and circumstance

There will be plenty of glitz for a president who has gilded the Oval Office and plans to build a White House ballroom for 650 guests.

While the president and first lady Melania Trump will arrive in the U.K. late Tuesday, the meat of the visit begins the next day.

After welcoming the Trumps, Charles and Queen Camilla will accompany them on a carriage ride through the Windsor estate, then back to the castle along a path lined by members of the armed forces.

Inside the crenellated walls of the castle, which William the Conqueror started building in 1070, a military band will play the national anthems of both countries before Charles and Trump review the guard of honor in scarlet tunics and tall bearskin hats.

Hundreds of military personnel will take part in the ceremonies — mounted troops, foot guards and musicians — after months of rehearsals.

When rifles are shouldered, it will come with a single thwack. When boots hit the ground, they will do so in unison. “God Save the King” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” will be note-perfect.

Highlighting history

After the welcoming ceremonies, the Trumps will view an exhibit of documents and artwork put together to highlight the shared history of Britain and the U.S. The palace hasn’t said what will be included, but the options are myriad for two countries with common legal and democratic traditions that stretch back to Magna Carta, the historic charter of rights signed in 1215 at Runnymede, just a few miles from Windsor.

But the centerpiece of the visit will be Wednesday night’s state banquet, where the men will don white ties and tail coats and the women will wear designer gowns and jewels that will sparkle in the flickering light from antique candelabra.

“The tiaras will be out in force,’’ said Hugo Vickers, a royal historian and author of “Alice,” a biography of the late Prince Philip’s mother. “It will all look very splendid.”

Dinner for many

The king and queen will join their guests around the massive Waterloo Table, which is about half the length of a football field and has space for 160 guests. It takes five full days to set the table, which will be laid with the Grand Service, a silver-gilt dining service that includes more than 4,000 pieces ranging from serving dishes to dinner plates and egg cups.

Vickers said the silver and ceremonies pave the way for conciliation, which Elizabeth believed was the way to solve even intractable problems.

“Keir Starmer has, cleverly in a way, used the king to lure President Trump over here, to give him a very good time,” he said. “And (it’s) a wonderful opportunity, with all the goodwill that will be engaged at this point, to talk to him … and if there’s any hope of sorting out Ukraine, etc. This is all a step in the right direction.”

Those discussions take place Thursday, when Trump and Starmer meet at Chequers, the country estate of British prime ministers.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sign of how unusual this week’s Federal Reserve meeting is, the decision it will make on interest rates — usually the main event — is just one of the key unknowns to be resolved when officials gather Tuesday and Wednesday.

For now, it’s not even clear who will be there. The meeting will likely include Lisa Cook, an embattled governor, unless an appeals court or the Supreme Court rules in favor of an effort by President Donald Trump to remove her from office. And it will probably include Stephen Miran, a top White House economic aide whom Trump has nominated to fill an empty seat on the Fed’s board. But those questions may not be resolved until late Monday.

FILE – Stephen Miran, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, walks at the White House, June 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is mired in uncertainty. Hiring has slowed sharply, while inflation remains stubbornly high.

So a key question for the Fed is: Do they worry more about people who are out of work and struggling to find jobs, or do they focus more on the struggles many Americans face in keeping up with rising costs for groceries and other items? The Fed’s mandate from Congress requires it to seek both stable prices and full employment.

For now, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed policymakers have signaled the Fed is more concerned about weaker hiring, a key reason investors expect the central bank will reduce its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point on Wednesday to about 4.1%.

FILE – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, left, talks with Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, right, during an open meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, June 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Still, stubbornly high inflation may force them to proceed slowly and limit how many reductions they make. The central bank will also release its quarterly economic projections Wednesday, and economists project they will show that policymakers expect one or two additional cuts this year, plus several more next year.

Ellen Meade, an economics professor at Duke University and former senior economist at the Fed, said it’s a stark contrast to the early pandemic, when it was clear the Fed had to rapidly reduce rates to boost the economy. And when inflation surged in 2021 and 2022, it was also a straightforward call for the Fed, which moved quickly to raise borrowing costs to combat higher prices.

But now, “it’s a tough time,” Meade said. “It would be a tough time, even if the politics and the whole thing weren’t going on the way they are, it would be a tough time. Some people would want to cut, some people would not want to cut.”

Amid all the economic uncertainty, Trump is applying unprecedented political pressure on the Fed, demanding sharply lower rates, seeking to fire Cook, and insulting Powell, whom he has called a “numbskull,” “fool,” and “moron.”

Loretta Mester, a former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, said that Fed officials won’t let the criticisms sway their decisions on policy. Still, the attacks are unfortunate, she said, because they threaten to undermine the Fed’s credibility with the public.

“Added to their list of the difficulty of making policy because of how the economy is performing, they also have to contend with the fact that there may be some of the public that’s skeptical about how they’ve gone about making their decisions,” she said.

David Andolfatto, an economics professor at the University of Miami and former top economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said that presidents have pressured Fed chairs before, but never as personally or publicly.

“What’s unusual about this is the level of open disrespect and just childishness,” Andolfatto said. “I mean, this is just beyond the pale.”

There are typically 12 officials who vote on the Fed’s policies at each meeting — the seven members of the Fed’s board of governors, as well as five of the 12 regional bank presidents, who vote on a rotating basis.

If a court rules that Cook can be fired, or Miran isn’t approved in time, then just 11 officials will vote on Wednesday. Either way, there ought to be enough votes to approve a quarter-point cut, but there could be an unusual amount of division.

Related Articles

Tesla’s stock is rising in premarket trading as Musk buys more than 2.5M shares worth about $1B

Business People: Northern Clay Center names new executive driector

Real World Economics: When Fed’s mandates are in conflict

Your Money: How are you feeling about money? (no, really.)

Working Strategies: Career planning for your 60s and beyond

Miran, if he is on the board, and Governor Michelle Bowman may dissent in opposition to a quarter-point reduction in favor of a steeper half-point cut.

There could be additional dissenting votes in the other direction, potentially from regional bank presidents who might oppose any cuts at all. Beth Hammack, president of the Fed’s Cleveland branch, and Jeffrey Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, have both expressed concern that inflation has topped the Fed’s 2% targer for more than four years and is still elevated. If either votes against a cut, it would be the first time there were dissents in both directions from a Fed decision since 2019.

“This degree of division is unusual, but the circumstances are unusual, too,” Andolfatto said. “This is a situation central banks really don’t like: The combination of inflationary pressure and labor market weakness.”

Hiring has slowed in recent months, with employers shedding 13,000 jobs in June and adding just 22,000 in August, the government reported earlier this month. And last week a preliminary report from the Labor Department showed that companies added far fewer jobs in the year ending in March than previously estimated.

At the same time, inflation picked up a bit last month and remains above the Fed’s 2% target. According to the consumer price index, core prices — excluding food and energy — rose 3.1% in August compared with a year earlier..

With inflation still elevated, the Fed may have to proceed slowly with any further cuts, which would likely further frustrate the Trump White House.

“When you get to turning points, people can reasonably disagree about when to go,” Meade said.

Today is Monday, Sept. 15, the 258th day of 2025. There are 107 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Sept. 15, 2008, as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 in the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

Also on this date:

In 1835, Charles Darwin reached the Galápagos Islands aboard the HMS Beagle.

Related Articles

Emmy Awards 2025: Full list of top winners

‘The Pitt’ wins drama Emmy Award as the ‘The Studio’ breaks Emmys comedy record

Photos: 2025 Emmy Awards red carpet standout fashion moments

How to watch tonight’s 2025 Emmy Awards

Today in History: September 14, Monaco princess dies of car crash injuries

In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were enacted in Nazi Germany, depriving German Jews of their citizenship.

In 1940, the tide turned in the Battle of Britain in World War II, as the Royal Air Force inflicted heavy losses upon the Luftwaffe.

In 1958, a commuter train headed for New York City plunged into Newark Bay after missing a stop signal and sliding off the open Newark Bay lift bridge, killing 48 people.

In 1959, Nikita Khrushchev became the first Soviet head of state to visit the United States as he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.

In 1963, four Black girls were killed when a bomb went off during Sunday services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. (Three Ku Klux Klansmen were eventually convicted for their roles in the blast.)

In 1978, Muhammad Ali became the first boxer to capture the heavyweight title three times, winning by unanimous decision in his rematch with Leon Spinks.

Today’s Birthdays:

Writer-director Ron Shelton is 80.
Actor Tommy Lee Jones is 79.
Film director Oliver Stone is 79.
Football coach Pete Carroll is 74.
TV personality Lisa Vanderpump is 65.
Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino is 64.
Actor Josh Charles is 54.
Olympic gold medal swimmer Tom Dolan is 50.
Actor Tom Hardy is 48.
Actor Amy Davidson is 46.
Actor Dave Annable is 46.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, is 41.
TV personality Heidi Montag is 39.

It was always going to be a roller coaster with young quarterback J.J. McCarthy stepping into the spotlight for the Vikings.

There were going to be stretches where he looked really good like he did late in the 27-24 win over the Chicago Bears last week. There were also going to be stretches where he looked really bad like he did throughout the 22-6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The blame wasn’t all on McCarthy’s shoulders, however, as the the offense couldn’t get much going in the aggregate. That spoiled a performane from the defense that should have been enough to earn a win.

Here are some takeaways from the Vikings’ 22-6 loss to the Falcons:

More growing pains for J.J. McCarthy

Truthfully, if McCarthy didn’t mount such an impressive comeback last week, the conversation surrounding him would be much more volatile right now. Though he certainly deserves credit for the way he led the Vikings to a win over the Bears, it shouldn’t be overlooked that he struggled for prolonged stretches in that game, too. There have been more lows than highs from McCarthy so far. The mistakes that plagued him against the Bears were on reared their ugly head against the Falcons when he completed 11 of 21 passes for 158 yards to go along with a pair of interceptions and a fumble. He needs to be more consistent from the jump. That’s the next step in his development. He can’t continue to ride the roller coaster like he has been to this point.

It’s time to lean on Jordan Mason

There were a few times against the Falcons that the Vikings simply should’ve given the ball to running back Jordan Mason. The most notable was when the Vikings had the ball in the low red zone with a chance to score a touchdown. Not once did Mason touch the ball on that sequence and they settled for a field goal. After acquiring the human bowling ball via trade, the Vikings would be wise to use him more. Not only does Mason have good vision with the ball in his hands, he has a 5-foot-11, 225-pound frame that should help take a load of McCarthy in the early stages of his career.

Not enough targets for Justin Jefferson

Maybe the best way to get McCarthy into a rhythm would be letting him throw to the best receiver on the planet as much as possible. There’s no reason star receiver Justin Jefferson should only have a half dozen targets in a game. That total should always be well into the double digits. The biggest play against the Falcons came when McCarthy found Jefferson over the middle for a gain of 50 yards. That came from making a concerted effort to let it rip, and while that worked in that specific situation, McCarthy should also be getting the ball into Jefferson’s hands closer to the line of scrimmage. Not everything for the Vikings has to be an intermediate route in space.

More injuries on offensive line

It’s getting ugly for the Vikings in the trenches on offense. Not only is star left tackle Christian Darrisaw still finishing up his recovery process, veteran center Ryan Kelly played against the Falcons before being placed in in concussion protocol, which thrust young center Michael Jurgens into action. It was a similar story for left tackle Justin Skule, who was placed in concussion protocol, prompting fellow left tackle Walter Rouse to step up. The makeshift group up front wasn’t ideal conditions for McCarthy as he gets acclimated to what life is like at the highest level.

Need to improve stopping the run

As much praise as the defense deserves for the way it played against the Falcons, it still gave up too many chunk runs, which resulted the unit allowing 218 yards on the ground. That’s way too much. If the Vikings continue down that path, they will eventually get blown out. Not every team is going to have to keep settling for field goal after field goal each time the reach the red zone.

Related Articles

Frederick: Vikings offense needs to get out of the way

J.J. McCarthy struggles in primetime, Vikings fall to Falcons

Why are the Vikings being so cautious with Christian Darrisaw?

The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 2: Last-minute moves

Donovan Jackson not satisfied despite impressive debut with Vikings