US President Donald Trump accepted an invitation to attend an official state visit with King Charles IIIwhich was given to him in a letter from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Traditionally, the American presidents of the second term who have already made an official state visit – Trump officially met Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 – are asking for tea or lunch with the monarch At the Château de Windsor.
Trump received the second “historic” invitation on Thursday at a meeting at the White House with Starmer, making him the only political leader elected lately to put two by the British monarchy.
“It’s really special, it has never happened before, it’s unprecedented,” Starmer told the president.
By receiving the invitation, Trump held it to the cameras inside the oval office.
President Donald J Trump receives a letter from King Charles III by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House Oval Office on Thursday, February 27, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images
In this document, the king asked to meet the president of Dumfries House, a palatial domain in Scotland, or Balmoral, one of the royal family houses, and suggested the pairs examination plans for a more extravagant visit.
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The letter reads in part: “I can only say that it would be … the pleasure of extending this invitation, in the hope that you … A stage visit Turnberry and a relatively close neighboring may not cause you too much drawback. Perhaps an alternative could be for you to visit Balmoral. »»
“In addition to this presentation of discussing a wide range of questions of mutual interest, it would also offer a precious chance to plan a second historical state visit to the United Kingdom,” continued the letter.
“In doing so, working together, I know that we will still improve the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud,” he concluded.
Starmer said that the invitation “symbolizes the strength of the relationship” between the United Kingdom and the United States, before asking Trump if he would accept the king’s “very special” offer.
“The answer is yes,” replied the president.
The correspondence signed by hand occurs a little more than a month after the king sent written congratulations before his inauguration.
Political leaders abroad, monarchs and presidents are invited by the King on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the permission of the government.
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