US Politics
Donald Trump set to invite King Charles to White House after state visit success
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The King is set to be invited to the White House next year to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence as the royals continue to play a leading role in “keeping Donald Trump sweet”.
Talks are underway for a major royal visit to mark the historic anniversary, and The Independent understands Prince William is prepared to attend in his father’s place if King Charles’s schedule does not allow.
Sources say a visit by either King Charles and Queen Camilla or Prince William and Princess Kate is a key part of Britain’s diplomacy with the current White House administration.
President Trump has always made clear his admiration for the royal family, describing the King as “my friend” while using his speech at the state banquet this week to praise the Prince of Wales as “a great man”.
The state visit this week was a key part of Britain’s diplomacy with the Trump administration and helped ensure that the UK received favourable trade terms after he imposed global tariffs.
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A source close to Mr Trump, who was with him during his summer visit to Scotland, said: “The president reveres the royal family and he wanted to do whatever he could to help Britain because he was so keen that nothing went wrong with this state visit.
“Keir Starmer has rightly identified that the royal family – who in many ways are our lead ambassadors – need to be front and centre in diplomacy with the Trump White House. The prime minister has been very clever in that respect and played his hand well.”
They added: “The president really wants a major royal visit during his presidency. He wants to be able to welcome the royal family to the White House.
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“By ensuring that a senior royal is there to mark such an important anniversary in this history of these two countries, it helps ensure that the UK can continue to keep President Trump sweet.” Buckingham Palace has refused to comment.
The diplomatic push began before the inauguration, when Prince William attended the reopening of Notre Dame in Paris in 2024 and held meetings with the then president-elect.
The strategy has been effective for Sir Keir Starmer, helping build a positive relationship between himself and the president.
The relationship has been unique and the envy of some fellow world leaders. While Mr Trump has not hesitated to criticise leaders of other allied countries, most notably Canada’s Mark Carney and French president Emmanuel Macron, Sir Keir has enjoyed a burgeoning friendship with the US president, who has repeatedly praised his leadership.
King Charles noted during his speech at this week’s state banquet that he had visited the US more than 20 times, but has not returned since his coronation.
The last official state visit across the Atlantic was made in 2007 by Queen Elizabeth II when George W Bush was president.
The late Queen made five state visits to the US between 1957 and 2007. She met presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and both George Bushes on those official visits.
There will be speculation about Charles or the Prince of Wales meeting with Prince Harry during such a visit after the King’s second son visited him this month in what was seen as the beginning of a reconciliation.
President Trump has had a hostile relationship with Prince Harry’s wife Meghan Markle and it is unlikely that the couple would be invited to any formal events at the White House.
But the president made it clear that he wants to celebrate the UK and US’s “unbreakable relationship” and his “friendship” with King Charles.
Mr Trump this week described his second British state visit as “one of the highest honours of my life”.
He also praised Prince William as “remarkable” and “amazing” and Kate, “so radiant and so healthy, so beautiful”.
The president is also understood to be keen to use the 250th anniversary celebrations and Royal visit to mark the close relationship between one of the founding fathers and the monarch at the time George III.
He has held talks with a group in the UK seeking to preserve the house of Benjamin Franklin who wrote the Declaration of Independence in the Lansdowne Club in London and was the colonial ambassador in London. Recently discovered papers in the Royal Archive show his close friendship to King George.
The plan is for the president and King to plant the final of a series of trees in the White House gardens as part of a project to preserve Franklin’s London home.