King Charles III visits Washington, DC, meets with President Trump

[0:02] Tonight, an elaborate affair at the White House to greet King Charles and Queen Camilla [0:07] and celebrate this historic royal visit. In attendance, a mix of politicians, [0:12] Fox News personalities, tech titans like Tim Cook and members of the Trump family. [0:18] This is a great honor and we welcome their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla [0:27] of the United Kingdom. This is a very significant visit. It's only the sixth [0:32] state visit ever by a British monarch to the U.S. It's the first state visit that Charles has made to [0:38] the U.S. but of course it has become a very high-stakes visit because of what's going on [0:44] politically. It's the royal couple's first state visit since Charles became king after a chaotic [0:50] last few days in Washington and the question in everyone's mind, will there be a reunion between [0:55] the king and his California-based son? The royal's busy second day started at the White House lawn. [1:03] They were greeted by President Trump and First Lady Melania and welcomed with a ceremonial military [1:09] review. It's the highest diplomatic honor extended by the United States to a visiting head of state. [1:14] It is our tremendous privilege to host you and you're going to have a wonderful short stay. [1:22] All this just after that failed attack on the White House correspondence dinner. [1:37] Confusion and chaos erupted inside the event before the suspect was apprehended by security. [1:42] He's now been charged with attempting to assassinate the president. [1:45] Obviously security is a very important issue for the royal family. Lots of questions were being asked [1:50] about security in the wake of that but it was very much an approach of we have discussed this, [1:56] we are happy with the security and we are going to carry on. [2:00] I think as soon as the invitation was accepted by the British government there was no way that I think [2:05] the king was going to agree to call it off and there's no way that he would have just done so on the [2:09] grounds of a security scare. In the centuries since we won our independence Americans have had no [2:19] closer friends than the British. The visit is aimed at easing relations between the UK and the US. [2:24] Together let us go forward with even stronger resolve to carry on our sacred devotion to liberty and to [2:31] the traditions of excellence that have been our shared gift of all mankind. [2:37] Now clearly relations are fairly strained at the moment between the United Kingdom and United States [2:43] over the Iran war, over comments about NATO, the Falkland Islands, the British military and I think [2:50] that actually this is the right time for the king and queen to embark on a state visit of this sort. [2:55] The king is our ambassador in chief. If anyone could sort of ease diplomatic tensions it would be him. [3:02] The trip seemingly off to a great start. The two leaders sharing a laugh inside the Oval Office [3:08] but it's been met with skepticism by some. So this trip is somewhat controversial in the UK in the sense [3:14] that the public is very divided about whether or not they wanted it to go ahead. Obviously the Iran war [3:20] has been a very dominant narrative around this trip and that's been front and centre but also the Epstein [3:25] scandal has also been very prominent because we've seen Epstein survivors calling for a meeting with [3:31] the king. The palace's position on that is that they can't because of legal reasons because they [3:37] don't want any meeting to interfere with due legal process. Some politicians said there's no way you [3:44] should go but I think the reality is the majority believe that it was the right thing to do certainly [3:50] the king did and he believes that it was good for this country and for Britain for him to come. [3:56] Members of congress I have the high privilege and distinct honour of presenting to you [4:00] his majesty Charles III. The king addressed a joint session of congress and he didn't shy away from [4:09] divisive subjects like NATO and Ukraine and he referenced American power. Mr. Speaker, [4:16] Mr. Vice President, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, America's words carry weight [4:23] and meaning as they have since independence. The actions of this great nation matter even more. [4:32] It may be a big ocean but it's a small pond and I think that's what they're trying to emphasize. [4:36] The king received ten standing ovations during the speech. [4:41] Mr. Speaker, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. [4:45] He followed in his mother's footsteps. She was the first monarch ever to address congress back in 1991. [4:51] A significant part of your social contract is written down in your constitution. Ours rests [4:59] on custom and will. The spirit behind both, however, is precisely the same. It is the spirit of democracy. [5:09] The king's schedule notably doesn't include a visit with his son, Prince Harry or daughter-in-law [5:14] Meghan Markle. [5:15] I personally think it would look rather odd that he suddenly puts a visit to see his son and his [5:22] daughter-in-law and his grandchildren in the middle of a visit where he is acting as a statesman, as our [5:29] head of state. Harry and Meghan shocked the world when they stepped down as senior royals in early 2020. [5:35] In the years since, the couple has given a series of revealing interviews, seen by many as damaging to [5:41] the royal family. And also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born. [5:49] From a tell-all interview with Oprah. What? [5:52] To Prince Harry's memoir Spare and their six-part documentary on Netflix. [5:57] We're happy to lie to protect my brother. We're never willing to tell the truth to protect us. [6:04] Most recently, the Duke of Sussex spoke to ITV News after a two-day visit to Ukraine, [6:08] pushing back on the idea that he's not a working royal. [6:11] I will always be part of the royal family and I'm here working and doing the very thing that [6:16] I was born to do. And I enjoy doing it. [6:20] If somebody wants to step back, they can't fully extract themselves. They're still part of the [6:26] family and they're still going to attract all of the attention that family members attract. And [6:31] Harry and Meghan can't really do anything about that, really. But it does make it a difficult [6:35] situation and it really exposes, I think, the flaw in the system, which isn't necessarily something [6:40] that the monarchy wants us to be thinking about. [6:44] Well, this is his first visit as king. Charles has been to America 19 times before. [6:50] His first trip was in 1970 when he was just 21 years old, staying as guests of the Nixons. [6:55] In 1974, he visited LA and he was captured with Barbara Streisand. In 1985, he and Princess Diana met [7:02] the Reagans and Diana famously danced with John Travolta. After this evening's festivities, [7:08] the king and queen are expected to visit New York City and later Virginia before the king heads to [7:13] Bermuda. What the British government want is for this visit to transcend the politics of the day. [7:20] This is about the overall relationship over the decades between the American people [7:25] and the British people. That's the message that they want to send. To the United States of America, [7:31] on your 250th birthday, let our two countries rededicate ourselves to each other in the selfless [7:41] service of our peoples and of all the peoples of the world. God bless the United States and God bless the [7:50] United Kingdom.