As Donald Trump prepares to receive King Charles and Queen Camilla to the US for a state visit, a royal biographer has shed light on the US President’s true feelings
Donald Trump’s “bottom line” view on King Charles has come to light(Image: Getty)
Donald Trump’s “bottom line” assessment of King Charles has emerged as His Majesty gets ready to journey to the US for a state visit. An “ardent Anglophile”, Trump is the first US President to have undertaken two state visits to the UK, and is said to be “extremely proud” of the achievement.
His connections to the UK are also solidified by his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, who came from Scotland’s Isle of Lewis – a nation that famously houses Trump-owned golf courses.
Speaking before the launch of his book, Elizabeth II: In Private. In Public. The Inside Story, royal biographer Robert Hardman explained that Trump is “half-British by descent” as he revealed details of his relationship with King Charles.
Trump seems to regard His Majesty highly, describing him as a “fighter” and saying of his cancer struggle that it was “something that’s taken down a lot of other people”.
Trump is the first US President to have paid two state visits to the UK(Image: Getty)
In his recent article for The Mail, Robert quotes Trump as saying that the King is “fantastic”, before adding: “He has fought very hard. He’s a fighter. We’re close. I have a really good relationship with him. Let me just give you the bottom line.
“He’s a great guy and he’s grown so much in the last ten years and especially over the last couple of years as King. His fight has shown that.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla will travel to the US at the end of April for a three-day state visit, Buckingham Palace has announced, and will commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence.
As part of the proceedings, which will “celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship” between the two nations, Charles will address Congress and attend a state dinner at the White House.
Last week, the palace confirmed the visit in a statement: “On advice of His Majesty’s Government, and at the invitation of The President of the United States, The King and Queen will undertake a State Visit to the United States of America.
Trump appears to hold His Majesty in high regard(Image: Getty)
“Their Majesties’ programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence.
“The King will then continue to Bermuda to undertake His Majesty’s first Royal Visit as Monarch to a British Overseas Territory.”
Despite these apparently cordial arrangements, the trip has also attracted demands for its cancellation owing to the ongoing US and Israeli-led war with Iran, during which the US has conducted extensive strikes on the Middle Eastern nation.
Meanwhile, some members of the UK Government reportedly believed the trip should not go ahead in light of Trump directing insults at the Prime Minister and the UK’s response to the conflict.
For former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond, the precise wording of the palace’s statement is significant, telling the Mirror: “This is part of the normal formal wording of a State Visit, however it does pertinently underline the fact that the King is doing the Government’s bidding.
“The Prime Minister has decided to deploy the soft power of the monarchy in the increasingly strained relations between the UK and the United States.”