King Charles is about to meet Trump and the timing could not be worse
London: King Charles appeared to work wonders last year when he hosted Donald Trump at Windsor Castle during a state visit that was widely regarded as a spectacular success.
The king honored the US president and his wife Melania by traveling through the town in horse-drawn carriages, ensuring the full honor of the royal guard and hosting a lavish banquet for 160 guests.
“The ocean may still divide us, but in many ways we are now closest relatives,” the king told the president at the state banquet about ties between the two countries.
As the hours passed in Windsor, Trump appeared to soften. The next day, she was all smiles at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they outlined trade and business deals worth billions of dollars.
Six months later, Trump is about to return the honor by hosting the King and Queen Camilla on a state visit that will include a banquet at the White House, a garden party and a ceremonial military review.
And the timing couldn’t be worse. Trump regularly complains about Starmer’s refusal to support war with Iran and mocks the Royal Navy’s “toys”. A few months ago, he caused deep resentment among veterans by falsely saying that allied troops were “holding back a bit” from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although the king had an uneventful visit to Trump last September, there are serious doubts about the wisdom of the royal’s upcoming visit to America. While the war in Iran poses a huge challenge, the president’s mood swings also add an element of risk to any situation.
The most compelling argument against the visit came two weeks ago from journalist and former BBC broadcaster David Dimbleby, and the argument has gained strength with each harsh statement from the president since then.
“We are dealing with a narcissistic and bully president and he is bullying Britain,” said Dimbleby, who began his career at the BBC in the 1960s and hosted election night news in the UK for decades.
“He was rude about the armed forces and our role in Afghanistan. The King is the head of the armed forces and I think some kind of rebuke is necessary.”
Dimbleby’s latest documentary, What Is Monarchy For?It was released last December and was considered a role for the royal family. He has been following the monarchy for years and knows that the King will fly to America and act on behalf of the government and the country. He thinks Trump doesn’t deserve this show of respect.
“I think it’s an abuse of the King, who has to do what he’s told by the government, but I think it’s giving Trump more than he deserves,” he told the BBC on March 31.
“Our relationship with the United States is not based on mutual love. This is an agreement. It always has been. This was an agreement they were late in World War I for. It was an agreement they were waiting for Pearl Harbor to happen in World War II.”
“It was always an agreed upon arrangement. Our relationship was good, but it wasn’t like we had some sort of friendly bond between us.”
Dimbleby reached this conclusion before Trump said that Iranians would “live in hell” if they did not open the Strait of Hormuz (his threat on April 5) and declared that “civilization would die” in Iran (April 6). Trump was also speaking before he declared a ceasefire with Iran and told Israel to stop bombing Lebanon.
Who knows what will happen before Charles and Camilla head to America for a four-day trip on April 27? They will attend various events at the White House, including a state dinner and the King will address Congress. They will travel to New York to meet the families of those killed in the September 11 attacks in 2001. They will then travel to Virginia, where King will head to a national park to meet indigenous communities.
In a way, the entire visit is a gamble on the course of the war.
This could give Trump an incentive to prevent further hostilities from breaking out so he can claim to be peaceful and enjoy royal support. The risk is that Charles and Camilla will sit at a garden party at the White House while Trump launches more missiles at Tehran and complains that Britain and other NATO allies are refusing to help.
The British public is sympathetic to Dimbleby’s argument. Polling company YouGov released figures showing 49 percent of voters cast ballots on March 26. I am against the trip. While 33 percent say it should continue, others are not sure.
The Greens and Liberal Democrats, two of the leading political parties, opposed the visit and publicly reflect their supporters. The YouGov poll found that 70 per cent of Green voters and 65 per cent of Liberal Democrats opposed the visit, while Conservative voters were split.
Looking at Starmer’s decision, 62 per cent of Labor voters were against the visit; although he insists it’s a good idea. The only group that was strongly in favor were voters who support Reform UK and its populist leader Nigel Farage: 63 per cent of these voters said it should continue.
Considering this year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, there are good reasons for this state event.
It is rumored that the Prince and Princess of Wales will also visit the USA this year; Both showed every sign of getting along well with Trump last year. However, former British ambassador to the US Sir Peter Westmacott said: Times Last month it was said the visit was “problematic” due to the war and had to be postponed.
If the visit goes well, the King will bring Britain and its former colony closer together, as he described in Windsor last September when he relied heavily on emotion to tighten ties.
The case in favor of the visit focuses on the strategic importance of the security relationship, including ties with major implications for Australia, such as the Five Eyes intelligence partnership and the AUKUS pact. But any studies conducted since Trump was hosted at Windsor Castle weaken this claim.
Six months after that visit, Trump appears even angrier with Britain over the alliance. He fell out with Starmer and underestimated Britain’s military capabilities. There is nothing deeper than this in a relationship. In fact, there seems to be a greater danger.
Worse still, last year’s big bets have yet to be realized. One of the announcements was a massive US investment in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, civil nuclear energy, and data centers. This “technology welfare deal” was said to be worth billions of dollars in terms of American investment in Britain. Most of them were postponed In December.
What is the point of this year’s visit if last year’s visit has not yet yielded results in terms of security and economy? Perhaps the King will give Trump the royal ceremonial gift that only the president seems to adore. And perhaps Britain will be given nothing in return.
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
