Nearly 250 years after Americans cast off their colonial shackles by declaring independence from Great Britain, President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed the deep historical and cultural ties between the United States and the United Kingdom as he capped a historic second visit to the country at a banquet hosted by King Charles III.
Speaking alongside the King at the outset of the banquet held in Windsor Castle, Trump noted his status as the first American president to be hosted at the Royal Family’s ancestral home and called the honor a “singular privilege.”
He praised the King as having “epitomized the fortitude nobility and the spirit of the British monarchy and the British people” and singled out the monarch’s record as an environmentalist, noting that Charles had “dedicated himself to preserving the glory and unique character of this kingdom, restoring life to the rivers and streams, supporting the works of its artists and composers, planting trees and gardens in its countryside.”
The president then turned to shared history and heritage between the U.S. and U.K. by noting that the empire once led by Charles’ ancestors had “aid the foundations of law, liberty, free speech and individual rights virtually everywhere the Union Jack has ever flown, including America.”
“We’re joined by history and fate and by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny, 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,” Trump said as he called the “bond of kinship and identity” between the United States and her former colonial master “priceless and eternal” as well as “irreplaceable and unbreakable.”
After repeating his oft-used line that America is “the hottest country anywhere in the world” under his leadership, the president said the U.S. owes “so much” to the British “and the footing that you gave us when we started together.”
“On behalf of all Americans, I offer a toast to one of the great friendships, to two great countries, and to His Majesty, King Charles III,” he said before adding that Charles was “a very special man” and calling Queen Camilla “a very special queen.”
In his own remarks, Charles invoked the once-rocky history between the United States and Great Britain by stating that he “cannot help but wonder” what the American and British leaders of 250 years ago would think of the friendship between the rebellious colonies turned superpower and their former mother country.
He noted that Trump’s predecessor, George Washington, famously vowed to never set foot on British soil and recalled how his great-grandfather five times removed, King George III, “did not spare his words” when speaking of Washington and other American founding fathers.
“Today, however, we celebrate a relationship between our two countries that surely neither Washington nor King George III, could possibly have imagined,” he said.
“The ocean may still divide us, but in so many other ways we are now the closest of kin,” the King added.
Continuing, Charles said he’d “always admired” what he described as “the ingenuity of the American people and the principles of freedom, which your great democracy has represented since its inception.”
Noting that he has visited the U.S. more than 20 times since 1970, he said he has “cherished the close ties” between the people of both countries and wryly observed that had he heeded the wishes of many in the press during his first visit as a bachelor, he might have ended up wedded to one of then-president Richard Nixon’s daughters.
The King also hailed the economic and military ties between the U.S. and U.K. by pointing out the trade deal struck by Trump and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and suggesting that the two nations “can go even further as we build this new era of our partnership.”
“Together, our scientists and engineers are shaping the world of tomorrow, not least with new partnership agreements on technology and the prosperity that stands to bring our countries have the closest defense, security and intelligence relationship ever known,” he said.
“The successes of the British redcoats and of George Washington’s Continental Army today stand shoulder to shoulder, brothers and sisters in arms, protecting the freedoms we both cherish,” he added.
