OAN Staff Addie Davis
9:05 AM – Wednesday, April 29, 2026
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump received King Charles III and Queen Camilla back to the White House on Tuesday evening for a State Dinner.
The royals arrived to Washington D.C. on Monday, beginning King Charles’ historic first visit to the United States since taking the throne in 2022.
Both the president and the king gave remarks at the dinner that shined light on the shared history, culture and spirit of the U.S. and UK.
Earlier on Tuesday, King Charles gave an address to a joint-session of Congress becoming the second British monarch and the first king to do so after the late Queen Elizabeth II addressed the legislative body in 1991.
“I want to congratulate Charles on having made a fantastic speech today at Congress. He got the Democrats to stand. I’ve never been able to do that,” the president quipped as attendants erupted in laughter.
As the country approaches 250 years of independence, Trump noted it was fitting to pay tribute to the “transcendent” bond between the UK and the U.S.
The history between both nations goes beyond two-and-a-half centuries, but extends further back when British colonists reached the eastern shores of the U.S. over four hundred years ago. Trump recognized this shared heritage, praising the early colonists for sailing “across the mighty Atlantic to settle and civilize this continent in the name of God, king and country.”
“The first Americans saw themselves as free men carrying the forward and central liberties and ancient rights of the Anglo-Saxons into this new and beautiful world,” he said.
The U.S. commander-in-chief explained the American Revolutionary War was not a denial of the country’s heritage, but rather a recognition of it.
“In the eyes of America’s founders, our war of independence was fought not to reject this heritage, but to reclaim it and perfect it,” Trump said.
He noted that although political bonds were dissolved then, the strands of memory, culture and identity were unbreakable, leading to “a friendship unlike any other on earth.”
Comparing “a nobility of spirit and heroic soul” uniting the two peoples, Trump likened the British Empire’s rule of the seas to the Americans’ exploration of the frontier and settling of the wild west.
Further, he compared the same “hunger for adventure and achievement” of those who planted the American flag on the moon to those who placed the Union Jack on Antarctica, as well as other feats by both countries.
The president claimed the U.S. and UK have stood together against “communism, fascism and tyranny.”
At the end of his remarks, Trump recognized the British legacy in the form of law, liberty and custom, and he thanked the UK for this inheritance in the U.S.
“May our two countries stand together forever for liberty, for justice and for the glory of God,” the president said, offering a toast to 250 years of American freedom and to King Charles.
The British monarch also echoed the shared heritage and longstanding partnership of the two countries, stating the purpose of being there that night was “to renew an indispensable alliance.”
Bringing up the shooting and assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, King Charles offered his thoughts and sympathies to the Trumps and those in attendance, praising the courage and the steadfastness of the president and the quick actions of the security forces.
King Charles also gave a nod to the readjustments on the East Wing of the White House, as the administration plans to build a White House ballroom. He joked that he was sorry to say British forces also attempted “real estate redevelopment” of the structure in 1814, a reference to the follow-up war after American Independence in which the White House was burned down.
The king noted difficult moments for the two nations’ partnership in the past and recognized current challenges in the modern world.
Both leaders touched on the conflict with Iran, and Trump reiterated his commitment to the Middle Eastern nation never obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The British monarch hailed NATO partnership, as well as the trilateral nuclear submarine partnership between the U.S., UK and Australia called AUKUS.
As a personal gift to the president, King Charles presented a bell from the HMS Trump, a submarine launched in 1944, which he claimed played a critical role during the war in the Pacific.
“Should you ever need to get hold of us, well just give us a ring,” he quipped.
Ending his speech, King Charles gave a toast to the partnership between the two nations.
“Let us raise our glasses and voices as we toast the past, the present, and the future of our two proud and allied nations,” he said. “To the United States and the United Kingdom, God bless both our countries.”
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