King Charles is reportedly not looking forward to the upcoming state visit from U.S. president Donald Trump. The country’s leader recently paid the U.K. a visit and his comments have left the monarch concerned over whether he will say something controversial during the pair’s meeting.
Donald Trump was in the U.K. over the weekend, in fact, he was even in Scotland at the same time as the King, however, the two did not meet. It seems Charles is trying to keep his exposure to Trump to a minimum and we don’t blame him. However, the U.S. president seems to be playing on his mind as a second state visit is scheduled for September, meaning the King has less than two months until Trump’s knocking at his door.
Donald Trump and his controversial comments
Trump recently made some rather controversial comments regarding the immigration policy of the U.K. telling Prime Minister Keir Starmer “you’re doing a fantastic thing.” This was regarding the harsher stance from Starmer which aims to quell net migration.
Touching down at Prestwick airport on Friday he also warned other European leaders that “You better get your act together or you’re not going to have Europe anymore.” Once again referring to immigration policies throughout the continent.
King Charles is worried
According to reports from the Daily Beast, Charles is “very concerned” about the impending visit. His worry lies in the very real possibility that the president could continue to make tone-deaf and offensive remarks about immigration while standing next to the king. Even worse than that, he could possibly bring politics up during his speech at the state banquet. It’s like inviting that one racist family member to Thanksgiving Dinner, you can’t uninvite them so you just hope they don’t say anything that’s going to start an argument.
While foreign visitors are usually advised to remain apolitical, Trump isn’t exactly one for the rules. He could end up putting Charles in a very awkward situation as he doesn’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with the president. The king usually preaches about the importance of letting refugees into the country rather than turning them away.
This is only one of many reasons as to why Charles is dreading the upcoming state visit. Trump has also made many controversial statements about Canada, mocking the country’s leadership and even threatening to annex the U.S. neighbour on multiple occasions. Naturally this rhetoric has been cause for concern in the Palace as Charles is the head of state of Canada, meaning a threat against the country is sort of a threat against him.
No doubt Charles is regretting handing that letter to Keir Starmer to deliver but it’s too late to back out now. One civil servant claims that Trump does have a great deal of respect for the royals so he might play nice, “we will just have to hope for the best.”
