By Max Foster, Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Betsy Klein, Christian Edwards, CNN
Washington, DC (CNN) — “The word ‘special’ does not begin to do it justice,” said Donald Trump of the relationship between the United States and Britain. “We’re like two notes in one chord, or two verses of the same poem – each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together.”
That was in September, when the US president spoke at a banquet hosted by King Charles III to mark his unprecedented second state visit to Britain. Since then, Trump’s comments about Britain have not been so lyrical, or so kind.
The president has called Prime Minister Keir Starmer a “loser” over his refusal to assist the US militarily in its war with Iran. He said Starmer was “no Churchill,” comparing him instead to Neville Chamberlain, a previous British leader who appeased Hitler. He declared that Britain was no longer “the Rolls-Royce of allies” and dismissed its Royal Navy aircraft carriers as “toys.” Asked this month about the state of the “special relationship,” Trump replied: “Not good, not good at all.”
It falls to King Charles to help mend it. The monarch lands in the US on Monday for a four-day state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of its independence, declared during the reign of his five-times great-grandfather, King George III.
The “special relationship” has endured a lot since then, from Britain’s burning down the White House in the War of 1812 to the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, while Queen Elizabeth II was its head of state.
Relations are again at a low ebb. Starmer had been praised for successfully navigating the first year of Trump’s second term; the second year has been choppier due to disagreements over Trump’s war against Iran.
Although the British monarch must stay above politics, his government is hoping that his US tour can help ease tensions. Charles and Camilla will have plenty of face time with the Trumps on the Washington leg of the trip, which culminates in an address by the King to a joint meeting of Congress, before the royals head to New York and Virginia.
“The King will not be having the kind of conversation with the president, or with senior senators and so on, that the prime minister would, but he’s extremely well informed, and it provides an opportunity for private conversations on some really important issues,” said Peter Westmacott, former British ambassador to the United States.
“From the United Kingdom’s point of view, we would obviously hope that those private conversations will have some impact,” he added.
King Charles was said to be “greatly relieved” that Trump, his wife and other guests were unharmed after a gunman attempted to charge into a Washington media dinner on Saturday night, Buckingham Palace said. The King and Queen were understood to have reached out privately to the US president following the security incident.
The palace later confirmed Sunday that the royal state visit to the US will go ahead as planned “following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of Government.”
“The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow,” the palace said in a statement.
CNN understands there will be some minor operati