King Charles III highlights US-UK bond during busy day of diplomacy with
Trump and Congress
[April 29, 2026]
By STEVEN SLOAN, JOSH BOAK, MARY CLARE JALONICK and
DARLENE SUPERVILLE
WASHINGTON (AP) — King Charles III marked the 250th anniversary of
American independence from Britain with gratitude that the two countries
united to build “one of the most consequential alliances in human
history” while urging “that we ignore the clarion calls to become ever
more inward-looking.”
Speaking Tuesday to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, Charles
repeatedly highlighted the historical and cultural ties that he said
have cemented an enduring bond between the United States and the United
Kingdom. But even as he spoke in unifying, optimistic terms, he
delivered a series of nuanced warnings encouraging leaders in the U.S.
to remain collaborative and engaged in global affairs.
He said the alliance between the U.S. and the U.K., tested anew by
President Donald Trump's war in Iran, “cannot rest on past
achievements.” Charles urged “unyielding resolve” in backing Ukraine
against Russia and heralded the NATO alliance that Trump has
consistently undermined.
The king praised religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue in terms
that are rare in Trump's Washington. As the White House rolls back
regulations aimed at denting climate change, the king encouraged those
in power to “reflect on our shared responsibility to safeguard nature,
our most precious and irreplaceable asset.”
At one point, Charles traced the notion of checks and balances on
executive power to the Magna Carta, the foundational legal document
sealed by King John in 1215. Trump told The New York Times earlier this
year that he was constrained only by “my own morality.”
And acknowledging a scandal that has roiled politics in both the U.S.
and U.K., Charles subtly alluded to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, the
convicted sex offender with ties to British officials, including the
king's brother, Andrew.
King celebrates independence and focuses on repairing a frayed
relationship
Charles is on a four-day visit to the U.S. intended to both celebrate
American independence and to repair the country's fraying relationship
with the U.K. He hardly arrived in Washington as an oppositional figure
to Trump. Joined by Queen Camilla, Charles had a warm greeting with the
president and first lady Melania Trump at the White House earlier
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. About 130 guests were seated at two
long tables that were decorated with low floral arrangements. The guests
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 U.S. 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. Still, the
contrast was apparent at times and some British commentators described
his speech as more political than they had expected.
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Britain's King Charles III addresses a joint meeting of Congress
while Vice President JD Vance, left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson,
R-La., right, listen in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in
Washington, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Kylie Cooper/Pool via AP)
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 volatile and more dangerous’ world
While the king paid tribute to those remarks, he acknowledged that
today's environment is “more volatile 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 up-and-down 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 U.K. 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 U.K. 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.
Ahead of 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 U.K. 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.
___
Associated Press writers Stephen Groves and Aamer Madhani in
Washington and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
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