King Charles III quoted Oscar Wilde, joking that the British have everything in common with America \u201cexcept, of course, language.\u201d President Trump said the morning\u2019s gloomy rain reminded him of a \u201cbeautiful British day\u201d and noted that his mother thought young Prince Charles was \u201cso cute.\u201d Both men waxed poetic about the bonds between their countries.<\/p>\n
And yet, on the first full day of a state visit focused on the shared history between the United States and Britain, the king sprinkled in some ever-so-subtle rebuttals to Mr. Trump. Charles spoke on Tuesday of the value of the trans-Atlantic alliance, the importance of checks and balances and his passion for the environment. He even spoke of his time in the Royal Navy, after Mr. Trump belittled British naval capabilities in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
The king tucked his rejoinders into a mostly lighthearted speech to Congress on Tuesday afternoon and during evening remarks at a formal banquet at the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease rest assured I am not here as part of some cunning rear-guard action!\u201d the king told lawmakers in the afternoon, only the second time a British monarch had addressed Congress.<\/p>\n
The mostly disciplined and careful public appearances by both Charles and Mr. Trump came at a dire moment in American-British relations, arguably at their lowest point in decades over the war in Iran and Mr. Trump\u2019s scathing attacks on NATO.<\/p>\n
But for a day (and maybe just a day), the special relationship that has developed over the past 250 years seemed \u2014 on the surface at least \u2014 special.<\/p>\n
In a rarity for the Trump era, the president stuck mostly to his script during the day\u2019s ceremonial events. He did not invite a horde of reporters into the Oval Office just before their meeting to field questions on Iran, the ballroom or Greenland in the presence of his visiting foreign dignitary. He did not lash out at another global ally.<\/p>\n
In one apparently unscripted remark during the state dinner, Mr. Trump referred to the war in Iran and insisted that \u201cCharles agrees with me.\u201d It was an awkward moment because Charles studiously stays out of such matters of war and politics.<\/p>\n
For the most part, though, Mr. Trump lavished the king with praise throughout the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore we ever proclaimed our independence, Americans carried within us the rarest of gifts \u2014 moral courage \u2014 and it came from a small but mighty kingdom from across the sea,\u201d Mr. Trump said on Tuesday morning as he welcomed Charles to the White House.<\/p>\n
There is little evidence in more recent history that an era of good feeling will last much beyond the departure of the royal couple\u2019s jet from American shores on Thursday, particularly as Mr. Trump\u2019s well-known affection for the royals does not extend to the British government.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump is furious at Britain for its refusal to join the fight against Iran, and his administration continues to accuse the British government of denying free speech to conservative voices. In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer vows not to be dragged into another war of America\u2019s choosing, and bristles at the president\u2019s description of Britain\u2019s aircraft carriers as nothing more than \u201ctoys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those differences were never likely to be erased by the king\u2019s first visit to the United States as the British monarch. By law and tradition, the king is supposed to rise above the disputes that often bedevil the leaders of both governments.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump was a guest of the royal family for a state dinner at Windsor Castle in September, an experience he described as \u201cone of the highest honors of my life.\u201d Months later, he belittled Mr. Starmer as a coward for not entering the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was not very long ago and look where we are in terms of the bilateral relationship,\u201d said Philippe Dickinson, deputy director at the Atlantic Council\u2019s Transatlantic Security Initiative. \u201cIt can be cited as evidence by those who are going to make the case that it\u2019s nice words one day and then forgotten the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Charles chose his words carefully during his public remarks.<\/p>\n
During his speech to Congress, he appeared to address \u2014 obliquely \u2014 the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, which has caused political headaches for the Trump administration and led to a rupture in the royal family.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn both of our countries, it is the very fact of our vibrant, diverse and free societies that gives us our collective strength, including to support victims of some of the ills that, so tragically, exist in both our societies today,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n
He also drew a standing ovation during his speech to Congress when he spoke about how the concept of checks and balances in American government has its roots in English history. Mr. Trump has worked to significantly expand executive power.<\/p>\n
Charles said the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society found that Magna Carta was cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789, \u201cnot least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spoke of \u201cthe natural wonders\u201d of the United States and \u201cour shared responsibility to safeguard nature, our most precious and irreplaceable asset.\u201d Charles is an avid environmentalist; Mr. Trump, by contrast, pulled out of the Paris agreement on climate change, making the United States the only country in the world to abandon the international commitment to slow global warming.<\/p>\n
The king spoke of his own service in the Royal Navy more than a half-century ago, and repeated Mr. Starmer\u2019s assertion that Britain had \u201ccommitted to the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the Cold War.\u201d<\/p>\n