King Charles meets Trump at White House

King Charles III and Queen Camilla opened their U.S. state visit on Monday with a White House meeting and tea hosted by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump. (euronews.com) (cnn.com) The four-day trip runs from April 27 to April 30 and was announced by Buckingham Palace and Trump earlier this month. Trump said the visit would include a White House banquet on the evening of April 28. (cbsnews.com) After arriving at the White House, the two couples toured the South Lawn and viewed a White House-shaped beehive that Melania Trump had installed the previous week. Charles keeps beehives at his private residence in England. (euronews.com) The royal couple then went to a garden party at the British Embassy in Washington, where British ambassador Christian Turner hosted guests from both countries. Photos from the event showed Charles greeting attendees on the embassy grounds. (euronews.com) (reutersconnect.com) On Tuesday, Charles is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress at 3 p.m. Eastern on Capitol Hill. Congressional leaders said the address marks the 250th anniversary of American independence and the U.S.-U.K. relationship. (cbsnews.com) (independent.co.uk) It will be Charles’ first state visit to the United States since becoming king in 2022, though he had made 19 previous trips to the country as Prince of Wales. The last state visit by a British monarch to the U.S. was Queen Elizabeth II’s trip in 2007. (cbsnews.com) (independent.co.uk) The visit lands at a tense political moment. Trump has publicly criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer over Britain’s refusal to join U.S. military action against Iran, even as the trip is framed around the “special relationship” between the two allies. (euronews.com) (cbsnews.com) Security has also shaped the backdrop. Buckingham Palace confirmed the trip would go ahead after a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, prompting added precautions around the royal visit. (cnn.com) (independent.co.uk) The trip follows Trump’s own state visit to Britain in September 2025, when Charles and Camilla hosted him at Windsor Castle. This week’s ceremonies in Washington extend that exchange onto American soil. (cbsnews.com)