King Charles III will wrestle attention away from President Donald Trump during his state visit, insiders have revealed.
The king is due to touch down in the U.S. for an official visit as the country reels after the dramatic scenes in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.
The British monarch, 77, has reportedly tweaked a long-planned speech to touch on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting. Trump, 79, declared that he “wasn’t worried” during the incident, and even said he was “honored” to be among presidents who have suffered attempts on their lives. After one such failed attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, Trump said, “God was protecting me.”
Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, said that the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, will formally face federal charges on Monday. The king is expected to land not long afterward.
An aide has told Politico that when he addresses a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, Charles will mention the chaotic scenes that sent a police officer to the hospital and saw Secret Service agents whisk Trump, his wife, Melania, and other top officials to safety.
The royal aide, not authorized to speak publicly, said the king “has personally poured work” into the speech.
Its length will reportedly exceed that of his mother’s 1991 address to Congress. Queen Elizabeth II spoke for 12 minutes, and while reports have indicated that her son would go on for 20 minutes, one well-placed source insists that it will be closer to half an hour.
“You can say a lot in 30 minutes in Congress,” Politico’s insider said.
The visit was plunged into doubt after the shooting on Saturday. Buckingham Palace confirmed on Sunday that it would “go ahead as planned” but with heightened security and only minor tweaks to the schedule.
Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit, timed to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, will encompass D.C., New York, and Virginia. The royal couple will then go to Bermuda, a British island territory in the North Atlantic Ocean.
There is no indication that the inevitable pomp and ceremony a royal visit brings will be dialed down because of Saturday’s incident. President Trump and first lady Melania Trump will greet Charles and Camilla privately on Monday, according to Buckingham Palace, before the party moves to a garden reception at the British ambassador’s residence.
Here, lounge suits and day dresses are required, and hats are not permitted, according to Axios. On Monday evening, the tone shifts to full ceremony, with a formal White House welcome and a military review.
Tuesday carries greater diplomatic weight. Trump and the king will hold a bilateral meeting while the first lady hosts the queen separately. King Charles will then address Congress before the day closes with a state dinner.
Before departing for New York, the royals will lay a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, a gesture that nods to the U.S.-U.K. military alliance.
The final leg moves to Virginia, where the schedule centers on American history and culture. Appalachian performances, a block party marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, a national park visit focused on conservation and Indigenous communities, and a separate equestrian stop for the queen will take place.
Politico reported that the Trump administration has stressed to the Brits that there will be little focus on policy during the visit, but the trip comes at a crucial time in the “special relationship” between the two nations. The alliance is at a low ebb, mostly down to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s refusal to back Trump’s “Operation Epic Fury” in Iran.
An insider told Politico that the king hopes to get Trump’s ear on at least one issue. “There is a feeling that the king can probably advance maybe one issue, so the question is what that issue will be,” they said, adding that it will probably be the Ukraine-Russia conflict rather than the special relationship.
However, a U.S. official said that fixing the latter will be “first and foremost” in people’s minds. A former senior No. 10 official added: “My priority would be to stem the bleeding and ensure that when Trump is phoned up by random journalists in the middle of the night, he stops setting these red lines for the prime minister.”
Trump has publicly trashed Starmer, but has maintained his clear liking of Charles. Asked on Friday if the visit might repair the ties between the two nations, he said: “Absolutely. He’s fantastic. He’s a fantastic man. Absolutely, the answer is yes.”
However, he said this after a leaked Pentagon memo suggested that the administration could re-evaluate its view on whether Britain should retain the Falkland Islands, a self-governing British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, where King Charles is head of state.
“As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our Nato allies, they were not there for us,” Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said on Friday, not ruling out the move.
