President Trump and first girl Melania Trump on their first state go to to the UK on June 4, 2019, forward of a dinner with then-Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
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Chris Jackson/AFP
When British Prime Minister Keir Starmer paid his first go to to President Trump within the Oval Workplace this yr, he got here bearing a really particular reward.
“I was just notified by letter from King Charles that he’s extended, through the prime minister, a historic second state visit to the United Kingdom. And that’s a great honor because it’s never happened before,” Trump mentioned on the time, brandishing the invitation.
Trump has lengthy talked about how he admires the royal household, and his state go to with Queen Elizabeth II was a spotlight of his first time period. For the British authorities, extending an unprecedented second such honor additionally opens the door to influencing Trump on points like help for Ukraine in its warfare with Russia.
President Trump reveals an invite from King Charles for a second state go to on February 27, 2025.
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Carl Court docket/Getty Photos North America
“It seems almost crude, but it’s almost exactly that — the U.K. knows that its leverage in its soft power when it comes to Trump comes through the royal family — he has a long affiliation and a kind of affinity to the royal family,” mentioned Evie Aspinall, director of the British International Coverage Group, a London-based think-tank.
Despite the fact that Trump isn’t widespread within the U.Ok. — and his upcoming go to is predicted to attract huge protests, as his 2019 state go to did — leveraging his curiosity within the monarchy for the U.Ok.’s profit is considered as a wise diplomatic transfer, Aspinall mentioned.
President Trump sits with Queen Elizabeth II throughout an occasion to commemorate the seventy fifth anniversary of the D-Day landings, in Portsmouth, southern England, on June 5, 2019.
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Daniel Leal/AFP
Trump’s curiosity within the royals comes from his mom
Trump’s lengthy fascination with the royal household has to do partially along with his mom. In lots of interviews through the years, he has talked about her fascination with Queen Elizabeth.
“She was a big fan of the queen, I have to tell you,” Trump advised podcaster Miranda Devine in July. “And anytime the queen was on television, my mother liked watching. She said, ‘Oh, the queen’s on.'”
Trump mentioned he felt a way of awe when assembly the queen in his first time period. “I was walking up and I was thinking, ‘Can you imagine my mother seeing the scene?'” Trump mentioned in an interview with journalist Piers Morgan in 2018.
He was downright reverential in speaking concerning the queen, including: “She is so sharp, so wise, so beautiful.”
President Trump toasts then-Prince Charles, Prince of Wales throughout a state go to on June 4, 2019.
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The president and first girl Melania Trump will meet with the King and different members of the royal household on Wednesday in a go to scheduled to incorporate a carriage procession, army bands, and a state banquet at Windsor Fort.
On Thursday, he’ll meet with Starmer at his countryside property known as Chequers the place they are going to talk about bilateral points and maintain a press convention.
The U.Ok. state go to is a ceremony of passage for U.S. presidents
Trump’s commonplace in being impressed by the royals, mentioned Nicole Hemmer, a professor of historical past at Vanderbilt College.
“These state visits have been, I think, a highlight for many presidents, precisely because of the special relationship between the United States and the U.K.,” she mentioned, “particularly the visits with the royal family – being part of that pomp and circumstance that come along with being around royalty.”
Trump’s consideration on the royals has gone past glitz, although. He was enamored with Princess Diana – in his 1997 guide The Artwork of the Comeback, Trump wrote: “I only have one regret in the women department – that I never had the opportunity to court Lady Diana Spencer.”
And he additionally has weighed in on latest royal household drama, saying that he thought Prince Harry and his spouse, Meghan Markle, had been disrespectful to the late queen.
Hemmer mentioned she sees a connection between Trump’s curiosity within the royals and his view of the presidency.
“Trump himself has praised monarchical government and in fact, shared pictures online of himself imagined as a king, which is something that previous presidents have been very careful not to do precisely because the U.S. was born in revolution against monarchy,” she mentioned.
In 2023, forward of King Charles’ coronation, Trump expanded on his emotions concerning the British monarchy to Nigel Farage, a outstanding right-wing British parliamentarian, on his information present.
“I think it’s a very important event, I think it’s a great thing,” he mentioned of the coronation. “A lot of people talk about the monarchy, should you have it or should you not. I think it’s a fantastic thing. It holds your country together, largely.”
President Trump and Queen Elizabeth II examine a Guard of Honour at Windsor Fort on July 13, 2018 in Windsor, England.
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