King Charles III is set to arrive in Washington carrying unusually high diplomatic weight, after Donald Trump publicly declared the monarch a personal friend and suggested he would have taken a different position on the Iran war than Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The remarks, made by the US president in an interview with The Telegraph, came as final preparations are made for the King and Queen’s state visit to America later this month. Trump described the King as “a wonderful and brave man” with whom he has a longstanding relationship, adding that he had known him “a long time” and that Charles had “been through a lot, in many ways.”
Crucially, Trump drew a clear distinction between his feelings toward the monarch and his ongoing frustration with the British government. He stated that the King had “nothing to do with” the current breakdown in relations between London and Washington — a breakdown driven almost entirely by Sir Keir’s refusal to involve Britain more directly in the US-led military campaign against Iran.
Diplomatic Challenges Facing King Charles On His First US State Visit As Monarch
The prime minister has declined to permit American forces to use the joint British-US base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for offensive strikes against Iran, and has also turned down requests to deploy Royal Navy vessels to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Those decisions have prompted repeated public criticism of Sir Keir from the White House.
Against that backdrop, Trump’s suggestion that the King would have “taken a very different stand” on the conflict — while noting that Charles, as a constitutional monarch, does not involve himself in political matters — amounts to an implicit contrast with the prime minister’s position. The King is bound by constitutional convention from engaging in political affairs, a point Trump acknowledged directly, describing him as “a great gentleman.”
British diplomats in Washington are understood to be hopeful that the visit can help restore some warmth to the special relationship, with the monarch’s soft power seen as a potential asset at a moment when government-to-government relations remain difficult.
The confirmed programme for the trip includes a state dinner at the White House and an address to Congress. The King and Queen are also expected to travel to New York. Following the US leg of the tour, the King will undertake a solo visit to Bermuda — his first to a British Overseas Territory as sovereign and the first by a reigning monarch to the island.
In the same interview in which he praised the King, Trump also disclosed that he was considering withdrawing the United States from Nato, adding a further layer of uncertainty to the broader transatlantic relationship that the state visit is partly intended to address.
A full schedule for the trip has not yet been released publicly.
