Can King Charles rescue the UK-US ‘special relationship’? — BBC News

[0:00] King Charles has arrived in the United States to meet President Donald Trump [0:04] to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence. [0:08] But this isn't just ceremonial, it comes at a moment of real tension [0:12] for the so-called special relationship between Washington and London. [0:16] As the US-Israel war with Iran continues, [0:19] Trump has criticised the UK Prime Minister for his position on the conflict. [0:23] The cure is not Winston Churchill. [0:24] Keir Starmer, for his part, has said... [0:26] I'm not going to yield. [0:27] While Trump has said the King's visit could absolutely help repair relations with the UK, [0:33] some critics aren't so sure. [0:34] So what's going on here? [0:36] To understand this, we need to go back to Trump's heritage. [0:39] Sarah, where does this all begin? [0:41] Well, I think we can trace Trump's love, [0:43] certainly of the UK and particularly Scotland, to his mother. [0:46] My mother loved Scotland. [0:49] She was Mary Anne McLeod Trump. [0:51] She was born and raised in Lewes in the Western Isles. [0:54] She was a Gaelic speaker. [0:55] She moved to the United States when she was 18. [0:57] So a long time ago, but she returned often. [0:59] And she clearly felt a really strong connection to the UK, to Scotland. [1:03] And along with many people of that wartime generation, [1:06] she also had huge respect and affection for Queen Elizabeth. [1:10] And she passed that on to her son. [1:13] He wrote about it in his book, The Art of the Deal. [1:16] I still remember my mother, who's Scottish by birth, sitting in front of the television set to watch [1:20] Queen Elizabeth's coronation and not budging for an entire day. [1:24] She was just enthralled by the pomp and circumstance, the whole idea of royalty and glamour. [1:30] And so it would appear is President Trump. [1:32] In 2018, he and Melania travelled to Windsor Castle to have tea with the Queen. [1:37] And he said afterwards that his mother would have been so proud. [1:41] It was a really short meeting, lasted less than an hour. [1:43] But, he said, they got on fantastically well. [1:46] And then in June 2019, so the following year, Trump was then invited back to the UK for a full state visit. [1:54] Now, of course, the late Queen was famously tight-lipped about most things. [1:57] And she never publicly confirmed her views on Mr. Trump. [2:01] But his admiration for her is without question. [2:04] When she died in 2022, he posted about how he and Melania would always cherish their time together. [2:10] What a grand and beautiful lady she was, he wrote. [2:13] There was nobody like her. [2:15] He's a nice guy. King Charles. [2:17] Trump is just a couple of years older than King Charles. [2:20] And despite being what most people would say is really quite different, they do seem to get on. [2:26] And it's a connection which has been incredibly useful to UK PLC. [2:30] This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented. [2:35] Just think back to that moment last year in the Oval Office when the Prime Minister, [2:39] Zakir Starmer, brought out that invitation with a flourish from the King, signed by the King, [2:44] for that 2025 state visit. Trump was clearly delighted. [2:49] So September 2025, the President and Melania, they were met by the Prince and Princess of Wales. [2:55] Again, that pomp, that pageantry were on max. [2:58] And Trump again clearly enjoyed it, returning the compliments, saying it was [3:02] truly one of the highest honours of his life. [3:06] As the UK's head of state, the King has to remain politically neutral. [3:09] And his powers are mostly symbolic and ceremonial. [3:12] But there's no denying the politics of this trip. [3:15] So what exactly is the King walking into? [3:18] Well, someone who might have a good idea about that is BBC North America editor Sarah Smith. [3:23] Sarah Smith rang the President on his mobile. [3:25] The first thing I asked him was whether the King's visit to Washington next week [3:29] can help repair the currently difficult relationship with the United Kingdom. [3:33] Mr Trump said, absolutely, the answer is yes. [3:36] He's a great man, a brave man, and he and the Queen will absolutely be a positive. [3:42] But will the King's trip actually help the special relationship? [3:45] Well, I think there is the possibility that the King's visit could help smooth things over, [3:50] that he can bring a royal touch to this relationship that might make it better. [3:54] But of course, it does mean it could also be extremely awkward for the President to be welcoming [4:00] the King of the United Kingdom at a point when he's falling out with that country. [4:04] What people will be hoping is that because the King is one step removed from politics, [4:09] and because President Trump knows that King Charles can't tell his government what to do, [4:14] can't persuade Keir Starmer to get involved in the Iran war, and in fact, [4:18] he can't even really comment on the politics around that, [4:22] that this visit will be about something other than that politics. [4:25] And that maybe some of the regal glitz and glamour that the King and Queen will bring with them [4:32] might mollify Donald Trump a bit, because it is clear that he's quite captivated by the British [4:38] royal family. [4:38] So that's certainly what the British government will be hoping, [4:41] that a little bit of royal magic might just smooth things over a bit. [4:45] The United States, like Canada, went all out with the warmth of its reception. [4:49] It's not the first time Britain's done this. The initial visit from late Queen Elizabeth to the [4:55] United States in 1957, the first time she came here, and President Eisenhower was in the White House. [5:01] And relations between the UK and the US were really bad then. That was just at the end of the Suez [5:07] crisis. America had threatened to try and bankrupt Britain at that point. But the Queen came, [5:12] dripping in diamonds and tiaras and furs, absolutely charmed the President and the people of America, [5:18] it has to be said. And that really went a long way to improving relations between the countries. [5:24] And we can remember other visits that were particularly memorable. It was when Ronald [5:28] Reagan was in office in the White House that Prince Charles and Princess Diana came on a visit. [5:35] And when they threw an event at the White House, Princess Diana ended up dancing with John Travolta very [5:40] memorably as President Reagan was smiling and encouraging them, in fact, to do so. It was a [5:47] moment that visually sticks with all of us, but diplomatically was quite important as well, because [5:52] it's really only Britain that can bring these glamorous royals to America. And so it's a special [5:58] trick that the British government can pull out when relations are quite difficult. [6:02] It's also not the first time that the special relationships face difficulties, is it? [6:06] There's ups and downs in any relationship, isn't there? And what's known as the special [6:10] relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States? It has its moments as well. [6:16] And there are times when Prime Ministers and Presidents get on particularly well, [6:20] and they seem to be working very, very closely together. But there have been plenty of occasions [6:24] when there have been falling outs, whether it's about international affairs or something else. [6:29] They're not always on the same track, the two countries. They're not always looking for the same [6:32] things on the global stage. But the relationship perseveres, because it's about more than the [6:37] president who's in the White House at the time, or the prime minister who's in number 10 at the [6:41] time. It's a lasting relationship that goes back centuries. And for decades, there have been [6:48] visits from prime ministers and the royal family to America and the other way around as well. And [6:53] the relationship will persist. But that doesn't mean it's not diplomatically difficult in any moment [6:59] when the nations are not getting along particularly well. And that's definitely the case at the [7:04] moment as Donald Trump seems so incredibly disappointed in Keir Starmer. [7:07] The special relationship is not unaccustomed to moments of tension. And while the British [7:12] royal family has helped to smooth relations in the past, will King Charles be able to do the same this time?