Last week’s State Visit saw Donald Trump and King Charles share warm smiles and lighthearted exchanges as they wrapped up their high-profile meeting at the White House.
Trump praised the monarch as “the greatest King” and repeatedly described him as “fantastic,” marking a notably cordial tone between the two leaders during the globally watched encounter.
The dynamic stands in contrast to their earlier interaction in 2019, when Charles—then Prince of Wales—hosted Trump for tea at Clarence House. Reports, including accounts cited in The Queen and Her Presidents by Susan Page and former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, suggest the meeting did not go smoothly, with Trump later reportedly calling the conversation “terrible” and focused heavily on climate change. Grisham also wrote that Melania Trump joked afterward that her husband had been “very bored.”
Now as King, Charles has taken on a more prominent diplomatic role, with the recent State Visit spanning engagements across New York, Washington D.C., and Virginia, before continuing to Bermuda.
A key moment of the trip was a formal address to the U.S. Congress, where the King received multiple standing ovations for his remarks on global cooperation, sustainability, and shared values—widely seen as one of the most significant speeches of his reign so far.