King Charles III arrives in United States on a delicate mission to restore the UK-US relationship

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two and a fractional centuries aft the American colonies declared independency from Britain nether King George III, his descendant King Charles III arrived successful the United States connected Monday with trans-Atlantic ties nether strain and information successful the spotlight.

A shooting astatine a Washington meal attended by President Donald Trump connected Saturday sparked a last-minute information reappraisal of the four-day authorities visit, intended to observe the United States’ 250th anniversary, and the U.S.-U.K. “special relationship.”

Buckingham Palace said the king “is greatly relieved to perceive that the president, archetypal woman and each guests person been unharmed.” After a information review, the palace said the travel “will proceed arsenic planned.”

Trump praises the king but derides Starmer

A rift betwixt the U.K. authorities and Trump implicit issues including the Iran warfare had already raised the governmental stakes for the British monarch's visit.

In caller weeks, Trump has lambasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer implicit his unwillingness to articulation U.S. subject attacks connected Iran, dismissing Britain’s person arsenic “not Winston Churchill,” the World War II premier curate who coined the operation “special relationship” for the U.K.-U.S. bond.

It's portion of a wider rift betwixt Trump and the United States’ NATO allies, whom helium has called “cowards” and “useless” for not joining enactment against Iran. A leaked Pentagon email suggested the U.S. could reassess enactment for the U.K.'s sovereignty implicit the Falkland Islands successful the southbound Atlantic. Britain and Argentina fought a 1982 warfare implicit the islands, besides known arsenic the Islas Malvinas.

The president insists the governmental chill won’t impact the royal visit. Charles “has thing to bash with that,” Trump said successful March, meaning NATO.

The president has spoken successful glowing presumption astir Charles, repeatedly referring to the monarch arsenic his “friend” and a “great guy.”

He besides continues to notation his “amazing” travel to the U.K. successful September with archetypal woman Melania Trump for an unprecedented 2nd authorities visit. Starmer hand-delivered the invitation from the king successful the Oval Office 5 weeks aft Trump returned to office, successful a precise nationalist effort to woo the Republican president.

The U.K. royal household laid connected pomp and pageantry for the Trumps, with scarlet-clad guardsmen, brass bands and a sumptuous banquet astatine Windsor Castle.

“President Trump has ever had large respect for King Charles, and their narration was further strengthened by the president’s historical sojourn to the United Kingdom past year,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Associated Press. “The president looks guardant to a peculiar sojourn by Their Majesties, which volition see a beauteous authorities meal and aggregate events passim the week.”

Trump, meanwhile, told the BBC that the king’s sojourn could “absolutely” assistance repair the trans-Atlantic relationship.

“He’s fantastic. He’s a fantastic man. Absolutely the reply is yes,” the president said.

Some person called for the travel to beryllium canceled

Kristofer Allerfeldt, a University of Exeter prof specializing successful American history, said the 2 governments person precise antithetic objectives for the trip.

He said that for Charles, the travel is astir “reinforcing semipermanent ties, showcasing the monarchy’s brushed powerfulness and reminding the satellite that Britain inactive carries diplomatic weight.”

For Trump, it’s much astir “a media event,” with accent connected the optics of a sojourn that resembles a gathering of “two gilded monarchs.”

Some U.K. politicians interest that the travel is fraught with opportunities for embarrassment. Trump’s caller broadsides astatine Pope Leo XIV person heightened those concerns.

Ed Davey, person of the U.K. centrist absorption Liberal Democrats party, earlier this period called Trump “a unsafe and corrupt gangster” and implored the authorities to cancel the trip.

“I truly fearfulness for what Trump mightiness accidental oregon bash portion our king is forced to basal by his side,” Davey said successful the House of Commons. “We cannot enactment His Majesty successful that position.”

Starmer defended the visit, saying “the monarchy, done the bonds that it builds, is often capable to scope done the decades” and bolster important relationships.

Andrew and Epstein formed a shadow

Raising the stakes is the shadiness of the king’s younger member Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who has been stripped of his royal rubric of Prince Andrew, exiled from nationalist beingness and enactment nether constabulary probe implicit his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. He has denied committing immoderate crimes.

Epstein victims person urged the king to conscionable with them and different intersexual maltreatment survivors. It's improbable helium volition bash so.

Charles has visited the U.S. 19 times, but this is his archetypal authorities sojourn to the state since becoming king successful 2022. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, made 4 authorities visits to the U.S.

The king, who is 77 and was diagnosed successful aboriginal 2024 with an undisclosed signifier of cancer, volition walk 4 days successful the U.S. accompanied by Queen Camilla.

In Washington, the king and queen volition person a backstage beverage with the Trumps and be a plot enactment and a ceremonial White House authorities dinner. The president and the king volition besides person a one-on-one meeting.

The royal mates volition besides sojourn the Sept. 11 memorial successful New York and be a 250th day artifact enactment successful Virginia, wherever Charles volition besides conscionable Indigenous leaders progressive successful quality conservation — a favourite origin of the environmentalist king.

Three centuries aft Britain’s kings and queens gave up immoderate existent governmental power, the royals stay symbols of brushed power, deployed by elected governments to creaseless planetary relationships and nonstop messages astir what the U.K. considers important.

A cardinal infinitesimal volition beryllium the king’s code to the U.S. Congress connected Tuesday. It’s lone the 2nd time, aft Queen Elizabeth II successful 1991, that a U.K. monarch has addressed a associated gathering of some houses.

Elizabeth praised liberalism connected that trip, spoke against the thought that “power grows from the tube of a gun” and praised the “rich taste and taste diverseness of some our societies.”

The king’s treasured causes, including the situation and harmony among spiritual faiths, are successful opposition to Trump’s. He's improbable to accentuate differences, but Allerfeldt said that, successful the monarch’s subtle way, the king could usage his code to nonstop a message.

“He does person an unorthodox mode of looking astatine the world, and I deliberation possibly helium tin really person thing valid to accidental erstwhile helium addresses Congress,” Allerfeldt said.

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Jill Lawless reported from London.

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