(TNND) — King Charles III arrives in Washington on Monday for a four-day U.S. trip that’s likely to be heavy on symbolism and ceremony and light on politics and policy.
Charles isn’t likely to directly address the underlying tensions between the two long-time allies during his visit with President Donald Trump. But the trip could help mend fences a bit.
“The best-case scenario for the British government is that Charles goes to the U.S., puts on a good show, puts Trump in a very good mood, and leaves him … with a friendly disposition towards the country,” said Peter Harris, a political scientist at Colorado State University and a U.K. native who has lived in the U.S. for 16 years now.
Harris said the U.S relationship with the U.K. is strained but remains a strong one, especially in terms of military, nuclear and intelligence cooperation.
Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have butted heads recently over both Trump’s overtures to acquire Greenland and the use of bases on British soil for U.S. strikes against Iran.
Harris said America’s relationship with Britain may be strained, but it’s “not a catastrophe.”
“I mean, there’s still what people in Britain call a special relationship,” he said. “It’s still strong across a number of dimensions, but strained is a good word.”
Trump has been unhappy with Britain’s lack of cooperation with the Iran war, especially early in the conflict. And Harris said Trump hasn’t held back with his objections.
“I mean, he’s criticized Starmer publicly several times, sometimes in quite withering ways,” Harris said.
Harris said there’s a general perception within the Trump administration that Britain is just not being loyal enough, with both the Iran and Greenland issues falling into that bucket.
From the British perspective, an alliance should be an exchange of equals, not a test of loyalty, Harris said.
In early March, just days after the Iran war began, Trump seemingly derided Britain as “our once Great Ally” and told reporters, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Trump took a very different tone when announcing Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the U.S. April 27-30.
“I look forward to spending time with the King, whom I greatly respect,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
The king and queen will have tea with the Trumps upon arriving in Washington, then tour the newly unveiled and expanded White House beehive.
Charles will address Congress on Tuesday afternoon and attend a state dinner hosted by the president on Tuesday evening.
Then, Charles will visit New York City and Virginia for events before heading back across the pond.
All of the events are intended to celebrate America’s 250th birthday this year.
Harris said a visit from Charles is very different than a visit by the prime minister.
“I’d say there’s two main, at least two main, differences,” Harris said. “The first one is that the king cannot really talk politics. So, he can’t say anything too controversial. So, there’s hardly any chance or opportunity for a falling out.”
Charles has a ceremonial role, Harris said.
“The king is kind of restricted to niceties, kind of diplomatic protocol, kind of saying kind of very pleasant and flattering things,” he said. “And of course, who wouldn’t want to hear pleasant and flattering things? So, I mean, that’s right up Trump’s alley.”
Second, is that Trump, by all accounts, has a great deal of respect for the monarchy in a way that he doesn’t for the prime minister, Harris said.
That respect extends to both Charles the individual and the monarchy as an institution, Harris said.
“There’s no chance that Charles goes over there and starts talking about NATO, or the Chagos Islands, or trade,” Harris said. “That’s not the way it works.”
And Harris said neither side views this as a high-stakes diplomatic visit.
But the Brits have more to lose, Harris said. And they’re highly motivated to put their relationship with the U.S. on a firmer footing, he said.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source thenationaldesk.com ’
