Donald Trump has been in The Hague this week. No, not for that. Or that. Or that other thing. Look, he hasn’t been charged with any international war crimes yet! But it may happen at some point, so he’s familiarizing himself with the city which houses the International Criminal Court. Trump is actually in The Hague for the big NATO Summit, and he’s in a really pissy mood. He’s been trying and failing to glad-hand with European leaders who hate his guts. Trump has been placed next to Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer for several of the photocalls and meetings. I guess Starmer believed that he needed to bring Trump some kind of “gift” or pledge of fealty. So Starmer delivered something special: Starmer has basically ordered King Charles to host the Trumps for a full state visit later this year. Starmer made the king send the invitation last week.
King Charles has been “bounced” into hosting a full state visit for President Donald Trump later this year, after bulldozing reservations by the monarch who wanted to delay it. Charles, has been irked in recent months by Trump’s rhetoric about Canada—a U.K. “realm” which counts the king as head of state—becoming the 51st state. He proposed in a hand-written letter which Trump brandished in front of TV cameras an informal, private visit to his holiday home, Balmoral Castle, followed by a full state visit later in Trump’s term.
However a report in the London Times Wednesday claimed that Trump had rejected this cautious approach. Trump “made clear that his preference was for a full visit first, which would not be overshadowed by an informal handshake picture.” The Times adds that the legal document inviting a foreign leader for a state visit, called a manu regia, was signed by the king and hand-delivered to the White House last week. Details are likely to be announced soon.
A former courtier told The Daily Beast: “Charles has been bounced into doing it now by Trump. It’s embarrassing for the palace, which sent the letter suggesting that there was going to be this cozy, informal visit first, but it looks like Trump saw that for what it was; an attempt to kick the can down the road. Given the general anxiety around the king’s health, you can understand where Trump is coming from.”
Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for official comment, either to the London Times or the Daily Beast, but typically courtiers strive to make clear that state visits are not personal matters, but undertaken at the request of the ruling government. In time-honored fashion, a source described as “close to the king” pointed this out to the Times and denied any suggestion of discord between the Palace and the government over the visit.
The Times says that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer ordered the full “bells and whistles” state visit at short notice to cash in on the president’s oft-stated affection and respect for the British royal family, while the Palace “had hoped for a more leisurely and considered approach, building towards a full state visit.”
The Times adds that the Palace “raised concerns” about Trump’s inflammatory statements that Canada should become the 51st state, arguing that “impugning the king’s sovereignty” as head of state of Canada was another reason to proceed slowly.
“Given the general anxiety around the king’s health, you can understand where Trump is coming from.” I mean… given the way Trump looked and acted in The Hague, one would assume that there are concerns on both sides of the Atlantic that neither Charles nor Trump will be around for a kick-the-can-down-the-road 2026 state visit. Anyway, I sort of forgot that Charles invited Trump to Balmoral as a sort of stand-in for a state visit this year. American leaders don’t get the Balmoral thing – prime ministers are always honored to be invited to the monarch’s private Scottish estate, but American presidents find it all very tedious. I think the Obamas might have been the exception (they reportedly enjoyed Balmoral). Anyway, this was out of Charles’s hands – this is what Starmer wanted and what Trump wanted, so it is what it is.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
