U.S. President Donald Trump has clearly been looking forward to this week’s state visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the White House. In recent weeks he has repeatedly praised the king, calling him “a great gentleman,” “tough,” “a great guy,” “a nice guy,” and “a friend of mine.”
The four-day visit, timed to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence from Great Britain, proceeded after a last-minute security review following a Saturday-night shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The itinerary appears unaffected.
Political tension, however, hangs over the visit. Trump has clashed with the U.K. chiefly over the Iran war, criticizing Britain for not joining the U.S. and Israel more directly and at times mocking and insulting Prime Minister Keir Starmer for withholding military support. “When we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there. When we didn’t need them, they were not there. And they still aren’t there,” he told Sky News this month.
London has allowed the U.S. to use bases on British territory in the Iran conflict, but Starmer has insisted “this is not our war” and said he is “fed up” with its effects on the U.K. Those disagreements underscore a broader shift in relations in recent years.
Other sources of friction include the U.K.’s plan to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius — one island hosts a U.S. air base — which drew sharp criticism from Trump, who said of Starmer, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.” Trump has also pushed for new oil and gas drilling licenses in the North Sea and threatened tariffs on U.K. goods in response to a British digital services tax on tech companies: “If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK,” he said.
The king and queen will not engage in policy debates while in Washington; the monarchy is expected to remain politically neutral. Still, the royal visit represents a form of U.K. soft power that may resonate with Trump. His mother was born in Scotland, and he has long spoken fondly of the British royals, recalling a warm meeting with Queen Elizabeth II during his first term and speaking positively of King Charles over the years.
King Charles will address a joint session of Congress — only the second British monarch to do so. When Queen Elizabeth II spoke to Congress in 1991, she emphasized democracy, international cooperation and multilateral institutions like the U.N. and NATO, and praised U.S.-U.K. cooperation during the Gulf War.
This visit arrives in a different context: Trump often criticizes allies and NATO, and the U.K. has declined deeper military involvement in Iran. According to Buckingham Palace, the king’s address will touch on topics where the two countries diverge, including NATO, and will focus on renewing the U.S.-U.K. relationship.
U.S. President Donald Trump and King Charles III arrive to look at the White House garden and bee hive on the South Lawn of the White House. Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images Europe