King Charles meets Trump and urges U.S. leaders to stay engaged globally

King Charles III marks American independence with praise and warnings to U.S. leaders

King Charles III used his Tuesday address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence from Britain and to press U.S. leaders to stay engaged abroad, even as he spoke in largely unifying language. In the speech, Charles said the U.S.-U.K. relationship had become “one of the most consequential alliances in human history,” and he urged leaders to avoid “clarion calls to become ever more inward-looking,” according to the Associated Press report.

Charles, who is described as apolitical, emphasized historical and cultural ties that he said have cemented an enduring bond between the two countries. Even while praising the alliance in upbeat terms, the speech included targeted warnings meant for U.S. policymakers, addressing the state of global security and the direction of U.S. policy.

At the same time, the visit unfolded in a setting built to repair what the AP described as a frayed relationship between Washington and London. Charles and Queen Camilla arrived in Washington for a four-day trip designed to both mark the anniversary and improve ties, and they began Tuesday with a warm greeting with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at the White House.

Later Tuesday, Trump hosted the royal couple for a state dinner at the White House, with about 130 guests seated at two long tables. The AP report said the guest list included outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, conservative Supreme Court justices, and several Fox News journalists and hosts.

During his roughly 20-minute remarks to Congress, Charles described the alliance between the United States and Britain as something that must be actively maintained. He said the U.S.-U.K. relationship, tested again by Trump’s war in Iran, “cannot rest on past achievements,” according to the AP account, and he urged “unyielding resolve” in backing Ukraine against Russia.

Charles also promoted NATO’s central role in European security, noting the alliance’s importance in the current environment. In the same arc of warnings, he said the world leaders face today is “more volatile and more dangerous” than the one his late mother addressed in a similar speech more than three decades earlier, the report said.

The AP report said Charles drew attention to executive checks and balances by connecting them to the Magna Carta, a foundational legal document sealed by King John in 1215. It also said the timing and content of the remarks highlighted a contrast with Trump’s earlier comments to The New York Times, where Trump described himself as being constrained only by “my own morality.”

Charles’s speech also touched the political climate in Washington. The AP report said many of the lawmakers present were at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, an event disrupted by a shooting authorities described as an attempted assassination against Trump, and Charles told the joint session, “Such acts of violence will never succeed.”

In one of the most direct indirect references in the AP report, Charles acknowledged a scandal that has roiled politics in both the U.S. and U.K. while subtly alluding to victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who had ties to British officials including Charles’s brother, Andrew. Charles had also faced calls on Capitol Hill ahead of the speech to meet with Epstein’s victims during his U.S. visit, the report said.

After the speech, Trump told reporters that Charles “made a great speech,” and he added, “I was very jealous,” the AP report said. Charles and Camilla planned to continue their U.S. tour with stops in New York City and Virginia later this week.