On Tuesday evening, just a few hours after his address to Congress, King Charles III sat down for dinner at the White House with Donald and Melania Trump. The room was filled with Supreme Court justices, senior officials, and executives—you can imagine the tone of the evening.
Charles arrived eager to connect, and that was evident from the very first moment. His toast began with a reference to the attack that had taken place the previous Saturday at the Correspondents’ Dinner, addressing Trump directly: “May I also just start by paying tribute to your own courage and steadfastness.” No beating around the bush.
What King Charles III said in his toast
Charles was funny in a way that is rarely seen at an event like this. He compared the state dinner to the Boston Tea Party, telling Trump that the evening was “a very considerable improvement”* over that historic event.
He joked about U.S. maps, saying they read them like his family’s Christmas card list, with Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and even Prince William County.
He also allowed himself a comment on the incident involving Churchill and Roosevelt, in which the prime minister was caught naked coming out of the bathtub by the president, an anecdote he recounted with comical precision that seemed well-rehearsed.
Having said all this in the White House drawing room, in front of Trump, the effect was exactly what he had hoped for.
King Charles’s gift to Trump
The most surprising moment of the evening wasn’t a speech, but a gift. Charles presented Trump with the original bell from a British submarine named HMS Trump, which was launched in 1944 and assigned to Australia for much of its service life. It was a nod to the AUKUS program, to their shared naval history, and, admittedly, to the recipient’s instincts.
The presentation was accompanied by a wry remark that brought the toast to a close: “Should you ever need to get hold of us… well, just give us a ring!” One thing is certain: Charles III knows how to read his audience.
What King Charles III’s tone at the White House reveals
Beyond the humor, the toast conveyed a message of renewing an alliance that, in his words, has been the foundation of both countries’ prosperity and security for decades. He mentioned his mother, who had traveled to the United States in 1957 to repair the relationship following a crisis in the Middle East.
The reference was no coincidence. At a time when that alliance is facing difficult questions, Charles chose humor and history as diplomatic tools. And it worked, at least in the room.
King Charles’s full speech at the state dinner
Mr. President, First Lady,
My wife and I are most grateful to you for your generous hospitality as the United States celebrates this very special anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence.
May I also just start by paying tribute to your own courage and steadfastness, as well as to your security services for their swift actions on Saturday evening in preventing further injury. My thoughts and sympathies are with you, the First Lady and all those guests for whom this must have been a very upsetting incident. As the words of that famous anthem remind us, this is the land of the free and home of the brave as your own response demonstrates. What used to be called in the last War in the United Kingdom, Keep Calm and Carry on…!
I now realize, to my amazement, that my first visit to this remarkable country was over fifty years ago and, Mr. President, the golden threads of history and heritage between our lands are also embodied in your own family story, whose roots trace back to the beautiful landscapes of Britain’s Outer Hebrides and continue, as we know, in the great golf courses of the Highlands. I can only imagine the immense pride with which your own dear Mother, indeed both your Parents, must be looking down on the great office to which you have been elected for a historic second term.
And if I may say so, it is a particular pleasure to be back in this wonderful building, the heart of your democracy. On this occasion, I cannot help noticing the ‘readjustments’ to the East Wing, Mr. President, following your visit to Windsor Castle last year. I am sorry to say that we British, of course, made our own attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814.
I am so glad we have an important opportunity, at this critical time, to renew those bonds of history and friendship between our Nations and our peoples. Two and a half centuries ago, the United States of America was founded through an audacious and visionary act of self-determination. From the beginning, the American character has been defined by courage, tenacity and the spirit of adventure. As the direct descendant of King George III, I know this is a Nation that never gives up.
My family’s history remains reflected in your maps, which read rather like our Christmas card list across the ages — North and South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and the cities of Charleston (a particular favourite of mine, obviously), Georgetown (and, for that matter, Georgia), Annapolis, as you mentioned, and (further favourites) Prince William County and Williamsburg. This said, our French friends can feel equally at home with a glance at a map. Indeed, you recently commented, Mr. President, that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German. Dare I say that, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French…! Of course, we both love our French cousins greatly, and we three states are not only bound by our shared values, but by a profound belief that, together, we are more than the sum of our parts.
Out of the fires of a bitter and bloody Revolutionary War, the triumph of the father of this country, George Washington, and his fellow founders, was to forge a democracy founded upon the rights to liberty and the Rule of Law.
The story of Britain and America is one of reconciliation, from adversaries to the closest of allies; not always, perhaps, following the straightest path. As you said yourself, Mr President, during your own State Visit at Windsor Castle last year, ours is an unbreakable bond of history and heritage, culture and commerce, industry and invention — and we are determined to face the future together.
Tonight, we are here to renew an indispensable alliance which has long been a cornerstone of prosperity and security for both British and American citizens. Our people have fought and fallen together in defence of the values we cherish. Across the ocean, and from coast to coast, we have traded, innovated and created together. We have stood together through the best and worst of times.
However, the challenges we now face, from those who wish us harm across the world, to balancing the risks and opportunities of powerful new technologies, to the threats to the very international rules that have allowed us to trade and have kept power in balance for eighty years; those challenges encourage us to reaffirm, tonight, the basis on which our partnership has been built.
And yes, we have had our moments of difficulty even in more recent history. When my mother visited in 1957, not the least of her tasks was to help put the “Special” back into our Relationship after a crisis in the Middle East. Nearly seventy years on, it is hard to imagine anything like that happening today….
But it is not hard to see how important the relationship remains, in matters both seen and unseen.
My mother’s first Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, understood this so well. But then he himself was half American — a tradition of shared transatlantic heritage which I am pleased to say is alive and well in the White House today! Indeed, such was the closeness, that Sir Winston, whilst staying here in the White House — in one of the rooms you showed us upstairs — emerged naked from the bathtub to discover the door opening as President Roosevelt came in for a chat. With rapier wit, the President cast aside any embarrassment by declaring that, ‘the Prime Minister has nothing to conceal from the President of the United States’. This warmth came after testing times between our leaders in the early 1940s.
The kinship and friendship of many centuries provided great reassurance to my late grandfather King George VI, as it did to my late Mother.
It means every bit as much to me.
Of course, my late Mother met no fewer than thirteen serving Presidents — thankfully, all of them fully clothed! The first President I had the honour of meeting — at the age of ten, in 1959, when he came to Balmoral — was President Eisenhower, who had served as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces during World War II at a most critical time in the darkest days of the 20th century. American leadership helped rebuild a shattered continent playing a decisive role as a defender of freedom in Europe. We — and I — shall never forget that, not least as freedom is again under attack following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Today, our partnerships in NATO and AUKUS deepen our technological and military cooperation and ensure that, together, we can meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and contested world. And speaking of submarine alliances, there was one particular AUKUS predecessor, launched from a UK shipyard in 1944, that served for the majority of her life attached to the 4th Submarine Squadron in Australia, playing a critical role during the war in the Pacific.
Her name? HMS Trump.
So tonight, Mr President, I am delighted to present to you — as a personal gift — the original bell which hung on the Conning Tower of your valiant namesake. May it stand as a testimony to our Nations’ shared history and shining future. And should you ever need to get hold of us… well, just give us a ring!
For 250 years, the ingenuity and imagination of the people of the United States have been an inspiration to the world. This land of opportunity has nourished some of humanity’s greatest minds, from the industrial age to the space age. So many miracles of the modern world have been and still are invented in America. Indeed, we have followed the voyage of Artemis II — or Artemis the Second, as my family and I might like to call her! — with close attention. Now, I know you have big plans for the Moon, Mr. President, but I’ve checked the papers and I rather suspect it is already part of the Commonwealth, I’m afraid!
On this week’s visit, I look forward to meeting the people and communities of this dynamic country, including celebrating some of the work my King’s Trust has been doing in those communities, helping give young people the chance to succeed across America, in this year when we mark 50 years of the Trust, can you believe it?
Every year, millions of Britons journey to this remarkable country to experience its glorious national parks, soaring mountains and ancient forests. From the peaks of the Pacific Northwest to the rugged shores of the Atlantic, from the vast expanses of the West to the sweeping prairies and canyons, the natural beauty of this land is found in every corner.
And in sport, in just a few weeks, the United States and Canada will be among those to welcome the world as hosts of the FIFA World Cup. So in one sense, Mr President, as Heads of State, we are joint hosts!
We call this game, by the way, “Football”, Mr. President… And I can only say as the Head of State of five competing countries, I will be watching the matches closely and with great enthusiasm. After all, we always like favourable odds…
This city, Washington D.C., is the home of more Shakespeare Folios than anywhere in the world. 82 copies are carefully preserved and shared at The Folger Library. And at this time where the search for peace in the world, is more crucial than ever, I can only turn to Shakespeare’s genius to remind us of the plea for peace, spoken by the Duke of Burgundy at the conclusion of Henry V –
“my speech entreats, that I may know…why gentle Peace should not…bless us with her former qualities.”
Thank you, Mr. President and Mrs Trump, for your splendid dinner this evening which, may I say, is a very considerable improvement on the Boston Tea Party! So, whether your cup contains tea, wine, Scotch whisky, bourbon or even cola, let us raise our glasses and voices as we toast the past, the present and the future of our two proud and allied nations:
To the United States, and the United Kingdom. God bless both our countries.