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British Royals

Politics can wait – Donald Trump says his State Visit is mostly about his ”friends” King Charles and Queen Camilla

By
16th September 2025
King Charles with Donald Trump who he will host on an historic State Visit in September

US President Donald Trump has said his imminent State Visit to the UK is ”primarily to do” with King Charles and Queen Camilla.

As he left the White House on his way to the UK, he told reporters that while tariffs are on the table during talks with politicians, the focus of his historic second trip is his royal ”friends”.

As everyone’s come to expect, Donald Trump was full of praise for the Royal Family, describing King Charles as an ”elegant gentleman” who ”represents the country so well”.

And he referred to Their Majesties as ”friends of mine for a long time, long before he was king and it’s an honour to have him as king”.

The US President is set to touch down in the UK on the evening of September 16 ahead of the State Visit starting on September 17.

This is the first time an elected politician has been given the honour of a second State Visit to the UK. President Trump’s first trip came in 2019 when he was hosted by Queen Elizabeth II.

The setting then was Buckingham Palace. However, that’s currently undergoing major refurbishments and so State Visits are being hosted at Windsor Castle, as was the case with the recent trip by Emmanuel Macron, President of France.

The President of the United States of America was in no mood to think about that, telling reporters that ”this one’s at Windsor, they’ve never used Windsor Castle for this before, they use Buckingham Palace. I don’t wanna say one is better than the other but they say that Windsor Castle is the ultimate, right?”

Windsor Castle is the oldest royal residence still in use in the world and it will provide a security safe haven for the US President whose State Visit will take place within the confines of the Windsor estate. He’ll get a carriage procession as well as full military honours.

And Donald Trump was right in that this State Visit will feature more pomp and pageantry than most. A flypast by the Red Arrows is planned for the afternoon following a Beating the Retreat ceremony which is never usually included in a State Visit programme.

The State Visit by the US President runs from September 17 to 18 2025.

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About author

Lydia Starbuck is Editor in Chief at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra.Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024.June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station.June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.