King Charles’ charms Trump and Congress to put a gloss back on the special relationship
As Donald Trump’s relationship with Nato allies stutters, King Charles’ successful trip to Washington seems to have reaffirmed the special relationship between the UK and the US. American credibility, however, is still in doubt.
US president Donald Trump is not known for bowing to convention – or bowing to anything for that matter. True to form, he didn’t greet King Charles III at the start of the latter’s state visit on Monday with a dip of the head but rather his customarily hearty handshake. And yet for all his outsider posturing, few things seem to please the president more than attention from the British Royals. He was in buoyant form all week, revelling in the pomp and pageantry, and embracing his role as sidekick King to the real thing.
Nothing could spoil the mood. Even after a pointed speech to lawmakers in US Congress on Tuesday in which Charles made oblique references to constitutional checks on power and the importance of the Nato alliance, Trump remained effusive, calling it “a great speech”. At a lavish dinner of spring ramps, herbed ravioli and dover sole meunière, Trump grinned and chuckled as Charles dropped well-timed jokes about the 1814 British firebombing of the White House and how Trump “would be speaking French” if it weren’t for the English. All in all, the King’s speech was pitch-perfect, giving the feeling of good-natured ribbing between old friends.
Sure, there was the small matter of the president breaking convention and sharing a private conversation with a monarch when he claimed Charles “agrees with me, even more than I do” about curtailing Iran’s nuclear ambition. But that was a mere blip, and when ties between the US and its traditional allies across the pond are severely strained, it’s a welcome diplomatic success.
Since Trump took office in January last year, relations with Europe have been plummeting into an abyss. First Trump pulled back from supporting Ukraine, then threatened to invade Greenland and is now engaged in a full-scale retribution campaign against Nato allies who did not support his war against Iran.
Europe’s leaders have been lining up at the White House door to try and repair relations. Taking it in turns for ritual humiliation in the Oval Office, they sit with rictus smiles as Trump rakes them over the coals on tariffs, defence spending and other pet peeves.
There was no such confrontational diplomacy this week. Given that the US is celebrating 250 years since its independence from the British monarchy and many European countries are cooling on their own scandal-prone royals, there is an irony that it took a King to thaw the ice. But is the job really done? Are all fences mended and bridges rebuilt? Not so fast. Charles is far from the first visiting dignitary to pay their respects at the court of King Trump and leave feeling like they are best friends forever.
In early 2025, Trump stood next to a beaming Keir Starmer at a White House press conference, praising him and his “beautiful accent”. It provoked a rosy glow in British diplomatic circles and a feeling that the special relationship was alive and well. Now he is calling Starmer “not Winston Churchill” and a man who “ruins relationships”, while also apparently questioning Britain’s claim over the Falkland Islands.
Similarly, French president Emmanuel Macron’s early White House visit was all knee-touching and back-slapping with a jovial US commander-in-chief. Now, Macron is on the receiving end of Trump’s tasteless jibes about his wife.
It is highly unlikely that Trump is going to turn around after the royals depart and make similarly crude comments about King Charles and Queen Camilla, as he appears to have genuine respect for the British monarchy. But for a man who demands absolute loyalty from his acolytes, he gives out very little in return to his international allies, and when there is any deviation from his policy goals, all the goodwill evaporates. While Trump scoffs at the regular No Kings protests across the US and claims that he has no desire for absolute rule, his demands for absolute allegiance is clear – crown or no crown.
