US President Donald Trump and King Charles interact at the state banquet for the US President and First Lady Melania Trump at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of their second state visit to the UK, Wednesday September 17, 2025. Yui Mok/Pool via REUTERS
President Donald Trump appeared to be in retreat after insulting NATO last week when he claimed it never came to the aid of the United States.
While at the World Economic Forum, Trump told Fox Business "We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan or this or that, and they did. They stayed a little back, little off the front lines."
The Washington Post reported that King Charles III personally called Trump to school him on the only time Article V of NATO was invoked after the U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.
Social media exploded with posts from the U.K., including Prince Harry and even the cat account for the Prime Minister's residence, about the lives lost. Harry, in particular, served as a helicopter pilot on the front lines. He wrote in a statement that he personally lost friends during the fighting that the U.K. did for the Americans in Afghanistan.
Trump backed down in his comments on Saturday by praising the U.K. forces as "among the greatest of all warriors.
“The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!” Trump claimed.
The Sun reported on Sunday that King Charles' concerns were relayed to the White House. The report cited an unnamed source claiming he was "concerned" and "hurt" by Trump's comments, “whether inadvertent or not.”
The royals are slated to visit Trump in the spring as part of the U.S.'s 250th birthday celebrations.