Trump Touts 'Cherished Bond' with UK in Welcome Remarks

President Trump delivers introductory remarks outside the White House ahead of a bilateral meeting with King Charles.  President Donald Trump praised the “cherished” bond between the US and UK ahead of a meeting with King Charles III designed to reaffirm ties during a low point in bilateral relations.

“In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British,” Trump said Tuesday as he welcomed Charles to the White House. The president called Charles a “blessing” to the countries’ relations and predicted, “I am very certain that it will continue that way long into the future.”

Trump added that if the US’s founding fathers were able to see how the nations formed an alliance in the years since the American Revolution, “surely they would be delighted that the wounds of war healed into the most cherished friendship.” Charles attended a greeting ceremony hosted by Trump on the South Lawn of the White House, which featured an honor guard, military band, ceremonial cannon salute and a flyover. The pair’s conversation is expected to last for around an hour, before the king delivers a speech to a joint session of Congress, followed by a dinner in the East Room.

Trump at times veered from his script to praise Charles, recalling how his Scottish-born mother watched the royal as a young man during televised ceremonies. “My mother had a crush on Charles,” the president said.

The visit comes at a critical time in the so-called US-UK “special relationship,” which has reached one of its worst points since the Suez Crisis in the 1950s. Trump has spent recent months criticizing and insulting Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with whom he previously shared a warm relationship before Starmer split with the president over the war in Iran and his threats about annexing Greenland.

The meeting between the king and president is scheduled to remain private and Charles is not expected to appear on camera in the Oval Office, which foreign leaders often do when they visit.

Shortly before Charles’ arrival, the efforts to demonstrate stability in the alliance suffered a blow when it was reported that the UK’s ambassador to the US had played down the status of the relationship. The ambassador, Christian Turner, said that the US’s only special relationship was “probably Israel,” the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing a recording of the remarks.

The Foreign Office said Turner’s statements weren’t intended for public consumption and did not reflect the government’s official position.

Though the UK’s constitutional convention means the king stays above day-to-day politics, he has weighed in on some major issues. He highlighted the importance of supporting Ukraine’s war effort as well as safeguarding the environment in a speech welcoming Trump to Windsor Castle last year.

Charles is on the second day of his four-day state visit, the first by a British monarch since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, made the trip in 2007. His speech to a joint meeting of Congress will be only the second time a British monarch has done so, following Elizabeth’s address in 1991 in which she was greeted with a standing ovation from the American lawmakers assembled at the Capitol.

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