Donald Trump has drawn King Charles into the politics of the recent Iran war for a second day running, claiming the monarch “would have probably helped” the United States with its military operation had the decision been his to make.
Speaking in the Oval Office about the ongoing state visit, the US president was asked about the King’s address to Congress, in which Charles made what observers described as pointed remarks about the weight carried by American actions on the world stage.
Mr Trump praised the relationship between the two men, telling reporters: “The King is fantastic. We spent a lot of time together. We talked a lot. We talked about this also. He loves his country, and he’s a great King. And he’s a great friend.” He added: “I think if he were doing that, if that were up to him, he would have probably helped us with Iran.”
The president also voiced frustration with NATO, saying he had been “very disappointed” after the United States “asked them to do some things about Ukraine and Iran”.
The remarks come a day after Mr Trump told a White House state dinner that Charles “agrees with me, even more than I do” that Iran should never possess a nuclear weapon. Responding to that earlier comment, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “The King is naturally mindful of his government’s long-standing and well-known position on the prevention of nuclear proliferation.”
According to Sky News, Mr Trump also addressed his strained relationship with Sir Keir Starmer, which has cooled in recent months amid US criticism of Britain’s limited military support during the Iran conflict. The president suggested that his good rapport with the King probably eased matters with the Prime Minister.
While the political controversy unfolded in Washington, the King and Queen continued their engagements in New York. The couple visited the World Trade Center memorial in Manhattan before parting ways for separate appearances. Queen Camilla travelled to midtown for a literacy event at the New York Public Library, while Charles went further uptown to meet children in Harlem.
Tim Brown, a firefighter and 9/11 first responder, described the visit as “wonderful”. Speaking to Sky News chief presenter Mark Austin, he thanked the royals for honouring the emergency workers who responded to the attacks. “The King and the Queen are… telling us that to this day, they still have not forgotten what happened to us here in America,” he said.
The latest exchanges follow Mr Trump’s own second state visit to the United Kingdom in September last year — a historic occasion that made him the first US president to be invited for a second such visit. During the trip, he was treated to a Sovereign’s Escort in a royal carriage and a flypast, and at a Windsor Castle state dinner he described the visit as “one of the highest honours of my life”, calling Charles “a great gentleman and a great king”.
His first state visit, in June 2019, came at the invitation of the late Queen Elizabeth II. On that three-day trip, Mr Trump and First Lady Melania Trump held a bilateral meeting with the then-prime minister Theresa May before joining the monarch in Portsmouth to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
