Trump Hosts King Charles as US-UK Rift Deepens Over Iran
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- King Charles III is set for a state visit with Trump next week, featuring a State Dinner and multiple events, according to White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, who said Trump has 'great respect' for Charles and that their relationship was strengthened by Trump's UK visit last year.
- Trump told the BBC on Thursday that Charles's visit could 'absolutely' help mend relations between the White House and Downing Street, even as he has publicly criticized UK PM Keir Starmer for refusing to support the US war in Iran and for reluctance to help Washington control the Strait of Hormuz.
- Trump threatened a 'big tariff' on the UK in the Oval Office on Thursday over Britain's tax on US tech companies, and a Pentagon memo surfaced Friday reviewing options to punish allies not supporting the Iran war — including a review of the UK's claim to the Falkland Islands.
- Starmer has stood firm on keeping the UK out of Iran, citing 'best national interest' as recently as Thursday, while also facing domestic turmoil over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the US and Mandelson's subsequent firing over mentions in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
- Ed Owen, former UK government adviser and Atlantic Council fellow, told The Hill the king's visit acts as a 'timely reminder' of the strategic relationship 'in a world of insecurity and instability,' while American royal journalist Elizabeth Holmes said Trump is 'so clearly enamored by royalty' that he will likely be 'on his best behavior.'
Why it matters: The royal state visit is being used as soft-power damage control for a transatlantic alliance actively fraying over Iran: a sitting US president is simultaneously floating tariffs on Britain and a Pentagon review of the Falklands while welcoming its monarch. For Starmer, the visit offers cover for refusing to join the Iran war; for Trump, it offers the spectacle he craves from a leader he publicly respects more than the elected PM.
