Donald Trump and King Charles III
President Donald Trump plans on meeting with King Charles III on Monday — and if early reports are to be believed, the encounter could be quite embarrassing for both men.
“Trump has always been very receptive to the pageantry that comes with hobnobbing with royalty – but the King is also grappling with a family crisis that may cast another awkward shadow over his interactions with the president,” wrote The Independent's Alex Hannaford on Sunday. Citing both Trump’s criticism of Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not helping him in his war against Iran and the longstanding friendship between Trump, Charles’ brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Hannaford pointed out that millions in America and the United Kingdom question why there have not been legal consequences in America as existed in Britain.
“In Washington, there is little of the reflexive deference that surrounds the monarchy at home. American political reporters – and British correspondents in the US – operate at a greater remove,” Hannaford wrote. “Here, an unanswered question could prove a provocation that invites a louder, more public demand for the truth.”
He added, “And this isn’t the only problem on the horizon for Charles. Not only will Charles be arriving as Trump publicly doubts the Special Relationship under Sir Keir’s stewardship, for some, the visit could be seen as a show of political appeasement of a controversial administration that is leaning more towards authoritarian instincts every day.”
Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt warned King Charles III that if he visits Trump, the result will be a “brutal” humiliation for him.
“Lawmakers are ready to show their teeth, too,” Hannaford wrote. “While Congress lacks the statutory power to compel a foreign citizen to testify, any formal subpoena would be triggered if Mountbatten-Windsor ever sets foot on US soil. And a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) could petition British courts to force a deposition on UK soil in any criminal investigation. If Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives (and/or Senate) in November, the current polite requests for interviews are likely to be replaced by a barrage of Oversight Committee subpoenas and televised hearings focused on the Epstein files.”
In addition to the controversies involving the Iran war and Epstein, King Charles III’s visit is also controversial because Trump is ripping out granite White House fixtures installed by the anti-monarchical president Thomas Jefferson to prepare for the monarch’s visit. The Washington Post described it as “his latest White House renovation: a new black granite path that the royals are expected to take to the Oval Office.”
He added, “… [T]he president [was] eager to replace decades-old beige Tennessee flagstone with his handpicked dark granite slabs before the royal visit,” with Trump bragging in a plaque that “such attention to detail is rarely seen in the modern era!’”
It is perhaps symbolically appropriate that Trump is preparing for the British royal’s visit by tearing out Jeffersonian institutions, given Trump’s deeper opposition to Jefferson’s political philosophy.
"His 'empire of liberty' offered the potential to dismantle the artificial hierarchies inherited from the past and imbue all aspects of life with the promise of freedom and happiness," Dean Caivano, an assistant professor of political theory at Lehigh University and author of "A Politics of All: Thomas Jefferson and Radical Democracy," told this author for Salon Magazine in 2024. "Although this idealized image of a free and harmonious American society is undeniably marred by the institution and legacy of slavery, overlooking the role of education and science as prerequisites for freedom and equality diminishes our ability to assess the historical and contemporary limits of American democracy critically."
He added that Trump’s attitude toward science "relies on reactionary, draconian, and dogmatic thinking. By launching a direct assault on the scientific community, Project 2025 undermines the foundation of an enlightened citizenry that Jefferson held in high regard. The project advocates for dramatic cuts to research and development, promotes climate denialism, and seeks to hyper-politicize public health and STEM fields."