President Donald Trump and King Charles met at the White House on Tuesday for a formal welcome that combined ceremonial pomp with a moment of levity. After opening remarks, Trump stepped away from the lectern to shake the king's hand, and the two men exchanged laughter as photographers captured the encounter. The White House later posted a photograph of the handshake with the single-line caption "TWO KINGS."
The choice of caption was notable given the recurring theme of monarchical imagery in this administration. In October 2025, the president posted an AI-generated video depicting himself wearing a crown and flying a fighter jet above protesters. In that video, labeled by opponents as demonstrators against the administration's policies, the president's animated figure also appeared to drop fecal matter onto the crowd midflight. On the same day, a second AI video circulated in which the president appeared in regalia - crowned and caped with a sword - while congressional Democrats were shown kneeling before him.
The handshake and the photograph's caption came against a backdrop of historical contrast. Revolutionaries in 13 British North American colonies fought an eight-year war for independence beginning in 1775 against the rule of George III, who is described in contemporaneous U.S. declarations as a monarch responsible for a "history of repeated injuries and usurpations" aimed at establishing "an absolute Tyranny over these States." The United States formally declared independence in 1776.
During remarks to a joint session of Congress earlier in the day, King Charles spoke to the shared legal and political traditions of the United Kingdom and the United States. He invoked foundational texts - the Magna Carta, the 1689 British Declaration of Rights and the 1791 U.S. Bill of Rights - to make the point that "executive power is subject to checks and balances."
Not all observers viewed the photograph or the symbolism it conveyed as consistent with the United States' republican principles. Representative Joe Morelle, a Democrat from New York, told reporters that an important difference between the countries is that in the United States "the people are the sovereign. We don't have one person that’s sovereign," adding that he did not believe the president, respectfully, understood that distinction.
The visit included a state dinner hosted by President Trump for King Charles and Queen Camilla on Tuesday evening. The formalities followed a tense episode earlier in the weekend when Secret Service agents thwarted an assassination attempt on the president. In a television interview after that episode, the president addressed suggestions that his behavior resembled that of a monarch. Speaking to Norah O'Donnell on CBS's "60 Minutes," he dismissed the label, quipping, "I'm not a king. If I was a king, I wouldn't be dealing with you."
Contextual note: The events described here include the White House's captioned photograph, prior AI-generated imagery posted by the president in October 2025, King Charles's remarks to Congress referencing historical documents that constrain executive power, comments from Representative Joe Morelle about sovereignty, and the narrowly foiled assassination attempt that preceded the president's remarks to a television interviewer.