King Charles's US state visit may 'work magic' on Donald Trump's 'differences' with Keir Starmer, chief of protocol tells GB News

Georgia Pearce
Sat, 02 May 2026 00:00:01 +0000

Donald Trump's Chief of Protocol has told GB News King Charles's state visit to the US may "work some magic" on the President's "differences" with Sir Keir Starmer.

Sitting down with GB News star Bev Turner for an exclusive interview, Monica Crowley hailed the four-day state visit as the "epitome of soft power".

Reflecting on the trip, Ms Crowley told GB News: "This was a massive success for both sides, for the United States, for Great Britain.

"Of course, for the President and First Lady, who are the most gracious hosts and really have such a fond relationship with the King and the Queen, and to be able to host them meant so much to them."

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Ms Crowley added: "And I also think for the King and the Queen, they really enjoyed their time here in the United States.

"This trip was the epitome of soft power and the exercise of diplomacy that can sometimes work magic in terms of smoothing over relations when there are policy differences between two countries."

Bev highlighted the ongoing tensions between Sir Keir and Mr Trump, and questioned Ms Crowley on how "aware" she was that there was a "bridge to be built" between our two countries.

Ms Crowley responded: "Well, I think all parties going into this visit understood that there may be policy differences, some very significant between the United States and the UK and our Governments.

"But what this visit was about was really honouring our 250 years of extraordinary history, as well as our modern partnership and the shared values that underpin it all. So it was more of a ceremonial visit."

The US diplomat made clear a state visit is the "highest honour" Mr Trump can bestow on a guest, of which he was "delighted" to extend it to King Charles and Queen Camilla.

She told GB News: "A state visit is the highest honour that the United States can bestow upon a world leader, and upon a visiting country. We were absolutely delighted to do it.

"And on America's 250th birthday, we thought how extraordinarily special to make the first state visit of this President and First Lady in this second term be the King and Queen."

Reflecting on the relationship between the King and US President, Bev observed that Mr Trump appeared "in his element" and expressed a "child-like joy" whilst in the monarch's company.

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Ms Crowley agreed, responding: "Well, President Trump, having served a first term, got to know a lot of world leaders, obviously, some of whom are still in positions now and they're old friends.

"But I think this is a particularly special relationship and special friendship with His and Her Majesty's, simply because the president often talks about his mother, Mary Trump, who's of Scottish descent, and how much she really loved the late Queen Elizabeth II.

"And so I think President Trump grew up watching his mother really have great affection and admiration for Queen Elizabeth II, being raised with that."

She suggested: "I think having the King here, her son, who he's also grown to really know and love and respect so much, means the world to him personally.

"So in addition to the exercise of self-power and the power of diplomacy during this visit, I think personally it meant so much to the President as well as to the First Lady to have them here, not just as formal guests of the United States, but also as friends."

Reflecting on Mr Trump's state visit to the UK in 2025, Bev asked Ms Crowley how much of the visit was in her mind when preparing to welcome the King and Queen to the US.

She said: "I was so honoured to attend that state visit at Windsor. It was the honour of my life, but I spent most of the trip taking notes because as we joke here in American protocol, the British, of course, invented protocols.

"So the pressure was really on to make this visit as absolutely extraordinary, as extraordinary as what his and Her Majesty put on at Windsor for the President, First Lady and for the rest of our delegation. It was so magical at Windsor. Truly, truly a magical experience.

"We wanted to recreate that in our own American way. We have our own traditions here, but the formality of it is so critical to making a state visit work. Between the flags, the flyover, the military review, the inspection of the troops, the President's very gracious remarks, which everybody thought were incredibly moving, including His Majesty."