King Charles III and Queen Camilla landed in Washington Monday afternoon, heading directly to the White House, where President Trump and first lady Melania Trump greeted them. A ceremonial military review was held in their honor. The visit is the first Charles and Camilla have made to the United States as monarchs.
The trip is framed around the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Charles is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday, followed by a state dinner at the White House that evening. The couple are also expected to travel to New York to honor victims of the September 11 attacks, and then to Virginia.
The visit comes at a tense moment for U.S.-British relations. Trump's conduct of the war with Iran and his repeated criticism of NATO have strained the alliance that both governments have long called the "special relationship." Buckingham Palace described the visit as an opportunity to recognize "the shared history of our two nations" and "the deep people-to-people connections which unite communities."
Security arrangements surrounding the trip drew additional scrutiny after Saturday night's attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, where Trump, Vice President Vance, and senior Cabinet members were present. The palace confirmed Sunday that the visit "will proceed as planned," adding that Charles and Camilla were "most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case."
Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said he expects the king's congressional address to be historical in tone, likely acknowledging that the United States was born from a revolution against the British Crown. The more pointed question, Bergmann said, will be whether Charles hints at the human rights principles the two nations championed together after World War II, and how directly he leans into them given current U.S. policy.
Charles will hold a bilateral meeting with Trump while Camilla meets separately with the first lady.
