King Charles is preparing to proceed with his visit to the United States next month, despite a recent poll indicating that half of Britons believe it should be canceled following Donald Trump’s critical remarks about the UK.
During his inaugural state visit to the US, the King is anticipated to partake in a formal dinner at the White House in Washington, DC, and also make a stop in New York.
While the exact dates of the visit remain unannounced, reports suggest that King Charles is scheduled to address the US Congress in the last week of April.
This visit is set against the backdrop of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary and follows Donald Trump’s notable second state visit to Britain in September of the previous year.
Some have urged the King to delay his transatlantic journey due to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran.
On Thursday, Trump dismissed concerns that the current Middle East tensions with Britain would interfere with King Charles’ visit.
Answering media questions at a Cabinet meeting, the US President said: ‘He’s going to be here very soon, as you know, we’re going have a state dinner.
‘It’s going be great,’ he added. ‘He’s a friend of mine.’
King Charles’ trip to the US is set to go ahead next month despite half of Britons wanting it to be cancelled in the wake of Donald Trump’s recent blasts at the UK.
A YouGov poll, conducted on Wednesday, showed 49 per cent are opposed to the King’s visit going ahead, compared to just 33 per cent who want it to happen
Senior Government sources also said there was no suggestion the King’s visit was being delayed, despite it having yet to be formally announced.
But a new YouGov poll revealed a growing wish among Britons for the King’s trip to be cancelled completely.
The survey, conducted on Wednesday, showed 49 per cent are opposed to the visit going ahead, compared to just 33 per cent who want it to happen.
A previous poll from two weeks ago showed 46 per cent wanted the King’s trip to be cancelled, compared to 36 per cent who thought it should go ahead.
In the past fortnight, Mr Trump has continued his criticism of NATO allies – including Britain – for failing to assist in the US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
The US President has swiped that Sir Keir Starmer is ‘no Winston Churchill’ while fuming at the Prime Minister’s reluctance to allow America to use British bases to launch attacks on Tehran.
On Thursday, Mr Trump delivered another blast at the UK, saying Sir Keir made ‘a big mistake’ and denigrating UK warships as ‘toys’.
‘We had the UK say that ‘we’ll send’ – this is three weeks ago – ‘we’ll send our aircraft carriers’, which aren’t the best aircraft carriers, by the way. They’re toys compared to what we have,’ the US President said.
‘But ‘we’ll send our aircraft carrier when the war is over’. I said ‘oh that’s wonderful, thank you very much. Don’t bother. We don’t need it’.’
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘Trump is yet again insulting our brave Armed Forces just because we refuse to be dragged into his illegal war.
‘The ‘toys’ he refers to are called HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
‘What more will it take for Keir Starmer to call off the King’s state visit to the US?’
The latest YouGov poll showed that Green voters are the most opposed to the King’s visit (70 per cent), with Liberal Democrats (65 per cent) and Labour voters (62 per cent) not far behind.
Only Reform UK voters are firmly in favour (63 per cent) of the US state visit, while Tory voters are split 45-43 per cent on the subject.
The figures are not dissimilar to public sentiment when the circumstances were reversed last year.
Some 45 per cent of Britons thought it was wrong to invite Mr Trump for a state visit to the UK in September, with 30 per cent opposed.
YouGov surveyed 5,281 adults on 25 March.
