By Annabal Bagdi
Copyright birminghammail
Donald Trump has revealed what he thinks of King Charles and Queen Camilla ahead of his second state visit to the UK. The US president spoke of the monarch and his wife before taking off on Air Force One on Tuesday, September 16. The trip this week will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK – an unprecedented gesture for a US president. His last one was six years ago in 2019 when thousands of people turned out on the streets of London in opposition to his visit. Mr Trump is expected to stay overnight at the US ambassador’s residence in London once he reaches the UK. He will be treated to a ceremonial welcome and a lavish state banquet hosted by the Royal Family at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, September 16. READ MORE: Kate Middleton and King Charles share sweet moment outside Westminster Cathedral Before leaving the US, the president was asked what he was hoping to achieve from the high-stakes visit. Mr Trump said: “My relationship is very good with the UK, and Charles, as you know, who’s now King, is my friend. “It’s the first time this has ever happened where somebody was honoured twice. So, it’s a great honour. “And this one’s at Windsor. They’ve never used Windsor Castle for this before. They use Buckingham Palace. “And I don’t want to say one’s better than the other, but they say Windsor Castle is the ultimate, right? So it’s going to be nice.” He went on to make an embarrassing blunder – incorrectly calling Charles a ‘prince’. The US president continued: “Primarily it’s to be with Prince Charles and Camilla. “They’re friends of mine for a long time, long before he was King, and it’s an honour to have this King. “And, you know, I think he represents the country so well. “He’s such an elegant gentleman and he represents the country so well.” Mr Trump – who will be joined by First Lady Melania Trump during his UK visit – hinted at possible tariff relief for UK steel and said he would ‘talk to’ ministers seeking a relief from steel levies. The UK and US signed a trade deal in June which reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the US. But the countries failed to agree on terms for British steel, leaving tariffs on it at 25 per cent. Mr Trump added: “I’m there also on trade. They want to see if they can refine the trade deal a little bit. “We’ve made a deal, and it’s a great deal, and I’m into helping them. “Our country is doing very well. We’ve never done this well. We’re having trillions of dollars come in because of the tariffs. “They’d like to see if they could get a little bit better deal. So, we’ll talk to them.” Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here .
