King Charles meets Trump to kick off state visit aimed at easing strained UK-US relations

BRITAIN’S KING CHARLES and Queen Camilla have kicked off their four-day state visit to the United States with a cup of tea at the White House. 

The monarch and his wife are there officially to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.

But it comes at a time when relations between the UK government and Donald Trump’s administration are under strain due to prime minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to get involved with the US and Israel’s war on Iran. 

The trip also risked being overshadowed by the attempted assassination of the US president at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday, where he was surrounded by Secret Service agents and bundled from the room. 

Charles and Camilla landed at Joint Base Andrews air base in Maryland at around 7.30pm Irish time before being driven to the White House. 

The visitors were greeted by Trump and first lady Melania outside by the historic building’s south portico overlooking the lawns. They then made their way inside, with the first item on the agenda being a cuppa. 

As well as meeting with Trump, the royal couple will be guests of honour at a White House banquet.

Charles has also been invited to address a joint meeting of the US Congress. His mother Queen Elizabeth II was the only British monarch to do this, in 1991. The couple will also stop off in New York to commemorate ‌those killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks.

They will not, however, meet with survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

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US congressman Ro Khanna wrote to Charles earlier this month to call for him to meet survivors privately during the visit. But it’s understood the couple will not be able to meet survivors amid ongoing UK police investigations into matters related to Epstein. 

Following the shooting at the media dinner at the Hilton hotel on Saturday, Buckingham Palace confirmed yesterday morning that talks were taking place. Later, they confirmed that the trip would proceed as planned, albeit with some “minor adjustments”.

Suspect Cole Allen was this evening charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.

Charles privately contacted the Trumps to express his and Camilla’s sympathies with all those affected on the night before they left. 

Trump, a known Anglophile, wanted the first inward state visit of his second term in office to be from the UK. 

UK commentators have said the visit is the most important foreign trip of Charles’ reign so far, and it comes during a pivotal moment for the UK and US, with relations between Trump and Starmer. 

Trump has branded the UK’s approach to the Iran war “terrible” and repeatedly lashed out at the British prime minister – at one point describing him as “not Winston Churchill”.

There have also been reports in recent days suggesting the US could review its position on the Falkland Islands in retaliation for Starmer’s lack of support for the war in Iran.

There will be hope in Downing Street that Charles and Camilla – and the so-called ‘soft power’ of the British monarchy – can help mend the special relationship. 

With reporting from Press Association

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