Trump welcomed Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House in a ceremony on the South Lawn. The king shook hands with members of Trump's Cabinet before joining the president for a rendition of the national anthem.
The leaders will huddle later in the Oval Office for a meeting that’s closed to the public, reducing the potential for the freewheeling, sometimes controversial meetings with foreign officials that have become routine during Trump’s second term.
Charles will later become the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Her speech highlighted the shared history of both countries and the importance of their democratic values, themes Charles will likely reinforce on Tuesday.
The visit comes at a challenging moment for U.S.-U.K. relations. Trump’s up-and-down relationship with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the Republican president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran. Trump criticized Starmer, who has largely resisted his overtures, by saying “this is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.”
