- During his address to Congress, King Charles III underscored the importance of the U.S.-UK alliance.
- He also subtly issued a series of warnings, advocating for global engagement and collaboration.
- The purpose of Charles’ four-day visit is to commemorate American independence and mend the strained relations between the U.S. and the UK.
WASHINGTON — King Charles III commemorated the 250th anniversary of American independence from Britain by expressing gratitude for the formation of “one of the most significant alliances in human history.” He also urged against succumbing to the temptation of becoming increasingly isolationist.
Addressing a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Charles consistently emphasized the historical and cultural bonds that have fostered a lasting relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. However, he also subtly issued a series of warnings, advocating for U.S. leaders to remain engaged and collaborative in global affairs, despite his overall unifying and optimistic tone.
He stressed that the U.S.-UK alliance, which has been newly tested by President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, “cannot rest on past achievements.” Charles called for “unwavering resolve” in supporting Ukraine against Russia and praised the NATO alliance that Trump has consistently undermined.
The king lauded religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue, a rare sentiment in Trump’s Washington. As the White House rolls back regulations aimed at mitigating climate change, the king urged those in power to “reflect on our shared responsibility to protect nature, our most valuable and irreplaceable asset.”
Charles traced the concept of checks and balances on executive power back to the Magna Carta, the foundational legal document sealed by King John in 1215. This was in contrast to Trump’s statement to The New York Times earlier this year, where he claimed his only constraint was “my own morality.”
Charles also subtly referred to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender with ties to British officials, including the king’s brother, Andrew, acknowledging a scandal that has shaken politics in both the U.S. and UK.
King’s Visit: A Celebration of Independence and an Attempt to Mend Relations
Charles’ four-day visit to the U.S. is intended to both celebrate American independence and to repair the strained relationship between the U.S. and the UK. He arrived in Washington not as an adversary to Trump but as a diplomatic figure. Joined by Queen Camilla, Charles received a warm welcome from the president and first lady Melania Trump at the White House earlier on Tuesday.
In his welcome remarks, Trump also highlighted the shared history between the two countries.
“American patriots today can sing, ’My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,’ only because our colonial ancestors first sang, ‘God save the king,'” Trump said.
The leaders met privately in the Oval Office for a meeting Trump later described as “really good,” adding that Charles is a “fantastic person.”
Trump hosted the royal couple for a jovial state dinner later Tuesday in the East Room of the White House. The guest list included tech leaders such as outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, along with conservative Supreme Court justices and several Fox News journalists and hosts.
Charles and Camilla will continue their tour this week with stops in New York City and Virginia.
During his roughly 20-minute speech to Congress, the king, who is expressly apolitical, never directly criticized Trump. However, the contrast was apparent at times, and some British commentators described his speech as more political than they had expected.
Just two months earlier, Trump stood at the same lectern and chided Democrats for not standing during part of his State of the Union address. The king, for his part, elicited multiple standing ovations from Democrats and Republicans who listened with rapt attention.
Charles is just the second British monarch to address a joint session of Congress. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, delivered a similar speech in 1991 highlighting the historic ties between both countries and the importance of their democratic values.
Charles Acknowledges a ‘More Unstable and More Dangerous’ World
While the king paid tribute to those remarks, he acknowledged that today’s environment is “more unstable and more dangerous than the world to which my late mother spoke.”
Many of the lawmakers in the room were at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which was disrupted by a shooting that authorities have described as an attempted assassination against Trump.
“Let me say with unshakeable resolve,” Charles said. “Such acts of violence will never succeed.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s fluctuating 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.”
Trump has also imposed tariffs on the UK and warned of additional levies despite a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that has made such unilateral moves more challenging. Trump threatened just last week to slap a “big tariff” on the UK if it doesn’t scrap a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies.
Trump has more broadly challenged the traditional trans-Atlantic alliance with efforts to annex Greenland and threats to walk away from NATO. He has repeatedly imposed tariffs on and taunted Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.
Before his speech, the king had faced some calls on Capitol Hill to meet with Epstein’s victims while he is in the U.S. He didn’t make a direct mention of the convicted sex offender, but did reference the “collective strength” in the U.S. and the UK to “support victims of some of the ills that, so tragically, exist in both our societies today.”
If Charles offered low-key criticism of Trump, the president didn’t seem to mind. He said later that the king “made a great speech.”
“I was very jealous,” he said.
Agree with the emphasis on US-UK alliance in diplomatic engagements.
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