As Trump greets King Charles, the White House calls them ‘TWO KINGS’

WASHINGTON – If the ancestors of Mr Donald Trump and King Charles could see them today, the US president mused on April 28, they “would surely be filled with awe and pride that the Anglo-American revolution in human freedom” had survived to the present day.

Mr Trump moments later stepped back from the lectern at the White House to shake hands with King Charles during the US administration’s formal welcome of the British royals, and the two shared a laugh.

The White House captioned a photo of the moment, “TWO KINGS”.

It wasn’t the first time Mr Trump has flirted with monarchical imagery in his second presidential term.

In October 2025, he posted an AI-generated video depicting him wearing a crown and piloting a fighter jet zooming above “No Kings” protesters opposed to his administration.

Republican leaders in Congress have routinely called the demonstrations “Hate America” rallies.

Midflight, Mr Trump’s character dumps fecal matter onto the gathering.

The same day, he shared another AI video that showed him adorning himself with a crown, royal cape and sword as congressional Democrats knelt before him.

Revolutionaries from 13 British North American colonies fought an eight-year war for independence, waged against King Charles’ fourth great-grandfather George III, beginning in 1775.

The United States declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, citing the crown for “a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States”.

“One interesting difference between America and the UK is the people are the sovereign. We don’t have one person that’s sovereign,” representative Joe Morelle, a New York Democrat, told Reuters.

“I don’t think the president, respectfully, understands that difference.”

Spokespeople from the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mr Trump is hosting King Charles and Queen Camilla for a formal state dinner on the evening of April 28.

In remarks to Congress earlier in the day, King Charles commented on the two countries’ shared heritage and governing principles, invoking the Magna Carta, the 1689 British Declaration of Rights and the 1791 US Bill of Rights to declare “executive power is subject to checks and balances”.

Mr Trump rejected accusations of king-like behaviour in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes after Secret Service agents narrowly foiled an assassination attempt on April 25.

“I’m not a king,” he quipped to interviewer Norah O’Donnell. “If I was a king, I wouldn’t be dealing with you.” REUTERS