Royal test: Can King Charles show his mother's magic with Trump?

On her first trip to the United States as sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II so charmed President Dwight D. Eisenhower that she managed to mend a breach between their two countries over the 1956 Suez Crisis.

Seven decades later, her son Charles will be tested on his first trip to Washington as king to somehow smooth Great Britain's relations with President Donald Trump, which have been torn by conflicts over the course of the Iran war and the future of the NATO alliance.

Can King Charles III display his mother's magic?

At stake may be the future of the "special relationship" between the two countries, forged during World War II and now more imperiled than it has been since England defied Eisenhower's advice and, in a spectacular miscalculation, tried to seize control of the Suez Canal.

As a constitutional monarch, Charles won't be negotiating the United Kingdom's role in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, of course, or the configuration of a European security alliance in which the United States seems determined to take a smaller role. Those are the tasks of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his government.

But with a state dinner and a garden party, an address to a joint meeting of Congress and photogenic sightseeing in New York City and Appalachia, Charles and Queen Camilla will be trying to reinforce the fundamentals of the two nations' long ties − whatever the pressures of the moment.

"Their Majesties' programme will celebrate the historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, marking the 250th anniversary of American Independence," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. (A half-century earlier, in 1976, Elizabeth had joined the nation's Bicentennial celebrations.)

In an interview about the visit with London's Sky News, Trump was enthusiastic about seeing Charles again, calling him "a great gentlemen, a friend of mine."

But he sounded less sanguine about the nation the king represents. Asked about the state of the "special relationship," the president replied sarcastically, "With who?" He said Starmer was making "a tragic mistake" in his policies on immigration and energy, and he described U.S.-U.K. relations as "sad."

When Nixon tried to play matchmaker

Charles is no stranger to presidents.

He was 10 years old and dressed in a Scottish kilt and knee socks in 1959 when he met Eisenhower, the revered World War II general who had been invited to Balmoral Castle. Charles was 21 when he first visited the United States and was feted by President Richard Nixon, who reportedly hoped to pique the prince's romantic interest in his older daughter.

"That was the time when they were trying to marry me off to Tricia Nixon," Charles would recall in a CNN interview.

Years later, the prince met with President Ronald Reagan and became especially close to first lady Nancy Reagan, who attended his wedding to Diana Spencer and later commiserated with Elizabeth at the state of that star-crossed marriage. In England and over 19 trips to the United States, he also met at one time or another with Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

And Trump.

The two men are close in age: The king is 77 years old; the president is 79. Trump has adored Charles' mother since age 6 when he watched her coronation on TV, sitting next to his own Scottish-born mother. It is one of his earliest childhood memories.

But his first meeting with Charles, during a state visit to England in 2019, had its hiccups.

Afterward, the president told aide Stephanie Grisham that their conversation had seemed interminable. "Nothing but climate change," he groused, according to Grisham's White House memoir, "I'll Take Your Questions Now." Melania Trump had confirmed that with a laugh. "Oh, yes, he was very bored," she said.

In the wake of Elizabeth's death, Trump mused about the task Charles faced as king. "She was truly a legendary figure," he said in a 2024 interview for a book, "The Queen and Her Presidents." "Time will go by, but it's not going to be easy to replace somebody like that."

He added, "Hopefully Charles will be able to have a chance to do that."

Just a month after Trump's second inauguration, in 2025, the president was clearly delighted when Starmer delivered an invitation from Charles for a second state visit to London, the first for any president. In his toast at the white-tie dinner at Buckingham Palace, he called it "truly one of the highest honors of my life."

From Jeffrey Epstein to the Iran war

Charles' return visit to Washington comes at a time of upheaval.

The British monarchy has been shaken by revelations of misconduct in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal by Charles' brother, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being stripped of his royal titles. The U.S. presidency is in a state of some turmoil, as well, after Trump's unprecedented assertion of executive powers has divided the American public and sparked titanic legal battles.

And the war in Iran has not only roiled the Middle East but also had repercussions for the world's economy and its long-standing alliances.

After decades of being America's closest friend in the world, Britain now feels compelled to move toward Europe, Starmer warns. "As the world continues down this volatile path, our long-term national interest requires closer partnership with our allies in Europe and with the European Union," he said after Trump dismissed NATO as a "paper tiger" and said he was "absolutely" considering withdrawing the United States.

It is a time as challenging as any that Elizabeth faced as queen.

"I think the mission remains the same, and I've seen Charles since he became king, and he's trying very hard to make his contribution," Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and first lady, said in a 2025 interview. "But it's a different time, and it's much less forgiving. Being in any public position in a time of social media is very, very hard, so much more challenging than whatever came before."

Welcome to Washington, King Charles.

(This story has been updated).

Susan Page is the Washington Bureau chief of USA TODAY and the author of "The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History," published April 14 by Harper.