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US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States has “no closer friends” than the British, as he welcomed Britain’s King Charles III to the White House amid tensions over the Iran war.
“In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British,” Trump said in a speech, adding that the two countries had a “special relationship, and we hope it will always remain that way.”
Trump welcomed King Charles III and Queen Camilla to the White House in a ceremony on the South Lawn which saw the UK monarch shake hands with members of Trump’s administration before joining the US president for a rendition of the national anthem.
The leaders will have talks later in the Oval Office for a meeting that’s closed to the public.
King Charles III will later become the first British monarch to address the US Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, did so in 1991.
The speech on Tuesday will likely mark the most extensive public remarks the monarch will deliver during a four-day visit to the US that’s intended to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of independence from Britain.
House Speaker Mike Johnson became the first sitting leader of his chamber to address the UK parliament earlier this year. He attended a garden party with King Charles III in Washington on Monday and said he told him he would be “well received” in Congress.
The visit comes at a particularly challenging moment for US-UK relations.
Trump’s up-and-down relationship with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran.
Trump criticised Starmer, who has largely resisted his overtures, by saying “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
The US president has also imposed tariffs on the UK and warned of additional levies despite a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that has made such unilateral moves more challenging.
Trump threatened just last week to slap a “big tariff” on the UK if it did not scrap a digital services tax on US tech companies.
Trump has more broadly challenged the traditional trans-Atlantic alliance with efforts to annex Greenland and threats to walk away from NATO.
King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Washington on Monday and had a private tea with the president and first lady Melania Trump.
The royal couple will continue their US trip later this week with stops in New York City and Virginia.
Additional sources • AP, AFP