WASHINGTON
\nBritain\u2019s King Charles and Donald Trump hailed their countries\u2019 longstanding ties at a White House state dinner Tuesday \u2013 despite the US president claiming the monarch agreed with him on Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons.
\nOver a lavish meal, Charles echoed the tone of his earlier speech to Congress in which he urged London and Washington to stick together, without directly mentioning the tensions over the US-Israeli war with Tehran.
\nBut in his toast to a gala dinner attended by tech titans and golfer Rory McIlroy, Trump made his first public comments on the sensitive topic during the four-day visit by the British royals. \u201cWe have militarily defeated that particular opponent,\u201d Trump said at the White House dinner.
\n\u201cCharles agrees with me even more than I do \u2014 we\u2019re never going to let that opponent have a nuclear weapon.\u201d Trump has repeatedly lambasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his opposition to the Iran war, and there is no indication that King Charles has shown support for the US leader\u2019s stance.
\nNevertheless, both leaders strongly praised the \u201cspecial relationship\u201d between Britain and Washington, putting aside, however briefly, the transatlantic tensions. In his toast, Charles said he was \u201chere to renew an indispensable alliance which has long been a cornerstone of prosperity and security.\u201d
\nYet Charles pointedly mentioned the importance of international alliances like NATO that Trump has repeatedly disparaged \u2013 and called for continued support for Ukraine as it battles Russia\u2019s invasion. \u201cTogether, we can meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and contested world,\u201d he added.
\nThe menu for the lavish dinner included a garden vegetable veloute, spring herbed ravioli and Dover sole meuniere, followed by a White House honey and vanilla bean cremeux. Invited guests included Apple boss Tim Cook, Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos, Nvidia\u2019s Jensen Huang, and two-time Masters-winning golfer Rory McIlroy, who was born in Northern Ireland.
\nTrump also hailed Charles\u2019s \u201cfantastic\u201d speech to Congress, adding: \u201cHe got the Democrats to stand \u2014 I\u2019ve never been able to do that.\u201d The king received a warm reception from lawmakers in Congress as he urged the United States on Tuesday to stand firm with its Western allies, and broached topics like the environment that Trump often scorns.
\nCharles stressed that \u201cunyielding resolve\u201d was needed to secure a \u201cjust and lasting peace\u201d in Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale invasion by Russia since 2022. In just the second speech to Congress by a British monarch following his mother, Elizabeth II, in 1991, Charles also pointed to shared democratic traditions that opponents have accused Trump of undermining.
\nHe noted that the British Magna Carta had been cited in more than 160 US Supreme Court cases, highlighting\u2014 to rapt applause from the opposition Democrats \u2014 the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances. Trump earlier hailed Britain as America\u2019s closest ally as he welcomed Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House with pomp, ceremony, a 21-gun salute and a flypast.
\n\u201cIn the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British,\u201d Trump said. The visit comes at a delicate moment, with Trump criticising Britain over its stance on Iran and other policies.Despite the tensions, the US president struck a jovial tone, joking about his Scottish-born mother having \u201ca crush on Charles\u201d and making a jibe about the British weather. \u2014 DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON Britain\u2019s King Charles and Donald Trump hailed their countries\u2019 longstanding ties at a White House state dinner Tuesday \u2013 despite the US president claiming the monarch agreed with him on Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons. Over a lavish meal, Charles echoed the tone of his earlier speech to Congress in which he urged London and Washington […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543852,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-543839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n