WASHINGTON – King Charles III did not name President Donald Trump on Tuesday when he acknowledged before a joint session of Congress the transatlantic tension between the United States and the United Kingdom, but he emphasized that “America’s words carry weight and meaning” as he reflected on decades of diplomatic ties.
The monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland told lawmakers that since the “bitter separation” 250 years ago, the two nations “forged a friendship that has grown into one of the most important alliances in human history.”
“I pray with all my heart that our alliance will continue to defend our shared values with our partners in Europe and the Commonwealth and around the world,” he said.
Charles is the first British monarch to address a joint session of Congress and only the second British monarch to do so since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, addressed lawmakers in 1991.
Charles was met with thunderous unanimous applause from both sides of the aisle — a marked departure from the usual one-party enthusiasm during the president’s annual State of the Union address.
He punctuated his nearly 27-minute speech with laugh lines, including a joke that 250 years for America is “just another day” for the British.
To boos and cheers, Charles nodded to the “brave and imaginary rebels with a cause” who declared independence but also “carried forward” the ideals of the Magna Carta, a 13th-century document outlining the monarch’s protection of rights and property.
Both sides of the aisle stood clapping in unison as the king cited US Supreme Court cases that laid “the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.”
But the king also delivered his speech against the ominous backdrop of an end to US support for Ukraine and an ongoing war in Iran, initiated by the US and Israel, that has disrupted energy supplies to the UK and around the world.
These are conflicts that “present major challenges to the international community and whose impact is felt in communities the length and breadth of our country,” he said.
While the king was still speaking on Capitol Hill, the White House common on social media a photo of Charles and Trump together under the caption “TWO KINGDOMS” and a crown emoji.
Trump attacks the British Prime Minister
US-UK relations have soured as a result of Trump’s repeated attacks on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision not to join strike operations targeting Iran.
Trump cut his scathing online rants against the British government during the first full day of his king’s state visit, which included a 21-gun salute and ceremonial flyover after Charles and Queen Camilla arrived on the South Lawn of the White House.
Just before Charles addressed Congress, Trump lashed out at another European leader, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on his “Social Truth” platform, accusing him of thinking “it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!”
Just over a month after the US campaign in Iran, Trump, on Social Truth, told the UK and other allied partners to “Go get your oil!” from the blocked Strait of Hormuz.
“You need to start learning how to fight for yourself, the US will no longer be there to help you, just like you weren’t there for us,” he wrote.
Two weeks ago, Trump attacked NATO allies, showing to reporters in the Oval Office, “I’ve said for a long time that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us. So … this was a big test, because we don’t need them, but they should be there.”
Charles recounted in his speech to Congress how the only time the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, invoked Article 5 was to defend the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The King and Camilla are scheduled to visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York City on Wednesday.
“We stood with you then and we stand with you now in solemn remembrance of a day that will never be forgotten,” Charles said.
Just under 460 British troops died fighting alongside the Americans in Afghanistan.
Epstein files
The king’s trip to the US also follows the high-profile release of millions of records relating to disgraced hedge fund manager and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had affairs with Charles’ brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
Mountbatten-Windsor settled out of court in 2022 with Epstein’s late victim Virginia Giuffre, who accused Epstein and the former British prince of sex-trafficking her.
Mountbatten-Windsor has been stripped of his royal title of prince and is under investigation in Britain for allegedly sharing confidential government information with Epstein, which came to light in publicly released files.
The king acknowledged victims of sexual abuse in his speech, according to a palace aide, when he told lawmakers: “In both of our countries, it is the very fact of our vibrant, diverse and free societies that gives us our collective strength, including supporting victims of certain diseases that, so tragically, exist in both of our societies.”
Responding to questions about the king’s address, a palace aide told reporters traveling with Charles, “Of course it was on (his majesty’s) mind to acknowledge victims of abuse, so they naturally fall into that line.”
Sky Roberts, Giuffre’s brother, who has become an activist since his sister’s death last year, was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a round table for Epstein’s victims before Charles’ visit.
Roberts and the king did not meet.
The King will visit Virginia
Charles, a vocal environmental advocate, is also scheduled to visit Shenandoah National Park in Virginia on Thursday to see America’s “extraordinary natural splendor.” The king stressed to lawmakers the need for a collaborative effort to combat climate change.
“Even as we celebrate the beauty that surrounds us, our generation must decide how to address the collapse of critical natural systems, which threatens far more than the essential harmony and diversity of nature,” he said.
“We ignore at our peril the fact that these natural systems, in other words nature’s own economy, provide the foundation for our prosperity and our national security,” he said.
Charles also celebrated the shared financial economy between the United States and the United Kingdom, highlighting the $430 billion in annual trade. Just over a year ago, Trump launched a new tariff regime on British goods and imports from many other trading partners.
Review of bodies
Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed the king and queen to the South Lawn of the White House on Monday morning for a ceremony full of pomp and circumstance, including a review of the troops, a remarkable honor for a visiting head of state.
During the short and mostly scripted speeches, Trump singled out a tree embed on the grounds of the White House by Elizabeth II in 1991. Trump described the tree as a “living symbol” of the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.
“In the centuries since we gained our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British. We share the same roots. We speak the same language, hold the same values, and together our warriors have defended the same incredible civilization under the twin flags of red, white and blue,” Trump said.
Trump and Charles met in a closed-door Oval Office bilateral meeting after the ceremony.
The first lady and the queen met with American schoolchildren in the tennis pavilion at the White House, where the students put on Meta Quest headphones to view several UK landmarks, including Stonehenge and Buckingham Palace. The event was part of the first lady’s effort to promote technology in education, according to the White House.
Charles and Camilla are scheduled to attend a state dinner in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday night before departing for New York City on Wednesday.
The king and queen are scheduled to visit the small town of Front Royal, Virginia, on Thursday and meet with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in Shenandoah National Park, according to the British embassy.
