King Charles and Trump: Charles III praised for how he navigated tricky Donald Trump moment | Tina Brown Exclusive Interview

King Charles got raucous applause in the Senate chamber during his historic opening of state parliament in Canada last month.

But it wasn’t just the politicians he impressed with his speech in the face of Donald Trump‘s threats to annex the Commonwealth country as the 51st state of the US.

“I thought that was terrific,” royal author Tina Brown tells 9honey after coming off stage at SXSW London where she spoke about holding truth to power.

“I think that Charles has been really good lately. I’ve been very proud to be British lately, actually.”

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Though royals never interfere in politics, His Majesty’s presence in Ottawa spoke volumes in soft power ahead of Trump’s State Visit to the UK later this year.

“I mean, after that appalling scene in the Oval Office with Zelenskyy, it was really great that [UK prime minister] Keir Starmer came out of the Downing Street and gave him a hug, that Charles received him at Sandringham.

“These were really good moments of British symbolism that Charles, of course, is extremely good at, having been raised to know that the smallest gesture can be interpreted in a way.

“He never does anything that he knows isn’t going to be interpreted, so I think Charles has proved to be something of a strong moral centre in the last few years.”

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The legendary magazine editor who has met and interviewed Trump a number of times over the decades, says Charles’ stance is even more ballsy given most businessmen and women find him too intimidating to challenge.

“People don’t want to be sued, they don’t want to be audited, they don’t want other business people to not want to be around you because you are out of favour,” she says.

“I think Charles has proved to be something of a strong moral centre in the last few years”

“So people mostly want to keep their heads down, and not many people you find particularly want to stick their heads above the parapet.”

King Charles learned the art of diplomacy from his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II who famously prevented a foreign policy crisis in Zambia in the late 1970s, supported Nelson Mandela in the end of apartheid among many examples across her 70-year reign.

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But another thing giving the King a little more wiggle room to exercise soft power and influence policy is Trump’s love of the British royal family, inherited from his own Scottish-born mother.

Whether Trump was slighted by His Majesty’s speech in Canada will be seen when the US President makes his own historic trip across the pond in September.

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Typically second-term presidents aren’t offered a state visit but since Trump had the two terms separate by the Biden government, he’s been offered another trip.

“They’re going to do a second, as you know, a second fest… that’s what it is: a fest, and it’s beautiful, and it’s the first time it’s ever happened to one person,” Trump said in April of the invitation.

“And the reason is we have two separate terms, and it’s an honour… I’m a friend of Charles, I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William, we have really just a great respect for the family.”

Trump was hosted during his first term by Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle in 2019, on a three-day state visit.

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