Andrew Morton on How King Charles Rebuked Trump and Got Away With It

Added: 2026-05-06

[00:00:00]Hello everyone, Andrew Morton here with the Morton Files. Another episode today we're discussing with James Faircluff the um triumphant visit to Washington and New York by the King and Queen.

[00:00:15]James, you follow this. What did you make of it?

[00:00:18]>> Well, I was very worried about it. Um I thought it was a mistake on K Star's part. Latest no long litany of mistakes that he's made. And I thought he'd overreached by giving Trump not one but two state visits either way. And I was worried for the king in the sense that the risk of him being humiliated um and the risk of this being a fundamentally pointless trip. And I'm delighted to have been proved completely wrong. I think Charles has performed a an absolute masterclass in diplomacy. I think his speeches, both speeches were absolutely brilliant, right down to the the Trump bell that he gave him at the state banquet last night. So, I think it's consequential and historic. I don't think it will necessarily change the dial. It's certainly not going to change Trump. We all know that. But I think it was a so far has been an extraordinary success. What's your initial reaction?

[00:01:14]It was probably the most political speech I've ever heard by a British head of state by either the Queen or King Charles. And he's he spoke openly about supporting Ukraine. And it was interesting that JD Vance, the vice president, who's no fan of supplying arms and other materials to Ukraine, actually stood up and applauded along with the speaker of the house. So whether that applause translates into uh weapons, we'll we'll have to see. But King Charles came out with all the sentiments that you that you would expect, but in a very charming and diplomatic way, talking about the need for NATO, the need to stand together.

[00:02:00]sentiments that we that we would have taken for granted three or four years ago. But under in under in Trump world that doesn't exist.

[00:02:10]The Trump world view is very much transactional. Never give away something for nothing.

[00:02:17]And his view of of Europe is is is rather condescending.

[00:02:23]>> Yeah. And I think what's also interesting is that Trump has attacked world leaders for saying a lot less than what Charles said. And you know, even Lindsey Graham, who you know, takes the medal for being the ultimate Trump acolytes, he really enjoyed the speech.

[00:02:38]He praised it and he said it was a bit odd that the unifying feeling had to come from the king of England. So it's quite interesting that even one of Trump's top fans, as it were, was praising the king. And I think to some extent what's going on here is that all the people around Trump would have seen the speech for what it was, which was a not so subtle indictment of the president and of the road that he's taking America down. But I think they've made a collective decision to simply ignore that, not mention it, and call it a brilliant speech. Because to say otherwise would be to demonstrate that Trump has been criticized. So there's an interesting dynamic going on there where Charles has pulled off the genius trick of castigating Donald Trump and Trumpism and MAGA but in such a way that they cannot respond in the way that they normally would which is to attack attack.

[00:03:28]>> Yeah. In a way looking at Charles as well he's visited America 20 times and for an awful lot of those visits he was in the shadow of his late wife Princess Diana. most notably when she danced with John Travoltza at a similar White House dinner watched by Nancy Reagan and President Reagan. And Charles has never been applauded for his speech making style. I remember going around Australia and New Zealand with him many years ago and he spoke virtually every day something off the cuff and I was always impressed by what a good speech maker he was and it's um and it's something that has matured over the years and I think that his his the speech he made was very well crafted. It was funny. It was witty. It was it was on point. He he he it touched all the all the relevant uh points and you know it showed in a way that Charles is not just a man in full to misquote uh Tom Wolf but also someone who is very aware of his position and what he can contribute. It it was by far and a way the most political speech by probably by a British monarch. And it reminded me actually it reminded me of the queen's speech during COVID where she talked about we'll meet again. I mean that was a very different kind of speech speaking to a very worried nation. I think something like 23 million people watched it on TV and it it had a profound effect on the national mood. and she didn't want to make the speech, ironically, but she she did and it had a very soothing effect and it's remembered as very much her finest moments in in the last latter part of her her reign. And I think this speech by King Charles will define his reign.

[00:05:27]And whatever he does in the future is now done something which which reminds me very much of Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada and his speech at Davos where he talked about the middle powers. He talked about the wrench from from America but without naming Trump and how we need to the world needs to think differently. that has been a profound marker for leaders around the world. This speech is is one which in a funny kind of way gives Trump wiggle room. He can change tac knowing that King Charles has given him as it were political shelter. Thoughts?

[00:06:06]>> I think that that that's absolutely possible. Trump can change with the wind and then change with the wind again. So, it's not at all impossible that that he could change his direction because of it. I think it's unlikely that he will, but I think as you mentioned in the piece that you posted yesterday, it was a really powerful pause for thought for all of those lawmakers in that room. I think that even Queen Camila added her little bit to this kind of show of unity. She's wearing a cartier bro brooch that the queen wore in 1957 which was also consequential because Britain, France and Israel had attacked Egypt over sewers causing a a major rift with America. They didn't inform them at the time and that was 1956. A year later, the queen comes to America and she is the the the soothing palm that helps to resurrect the the the special relationship. And she she was also wearing a um a diamond and amethyst earrings from the queen's visit in 1991 where again where she spoke to Congress.

[00:07:21]When you look at that speech, it was talking between friends as it were. It was very warm, very very friendly and and without the politics that Charles brought into his speech, hers was a question of uh discussing, you know, the union, the meetings, how how things were were better together than apart, more bromides than specific politics.

[00:07:53]And I mean it's interesting for example that King Charles talked about um nature about the the need to save the planet not something very high on uh Trump's wish list. So it was for a a king even for a politician he was daring the tiger as it were. No, comp I completely agree.

[00:08:14]And I think what's also really interesting is it shows the unique power of the British monarchy to to be able to say things in that environment that no other head of state would get away with.

[00:08:26]If that was the figure head president like in Germany, then Trump and his acolytes would likely have kicked off and would have attacked. And I think Charles knew that he had cover to to give what is quite a controversial speech in the context of the fact that it was an indictment of Trumpism very implicitly. You know, there was one line in it, for example, which you mentioned in your your piece yesterday where Charles said, "We ignore the Clarion calls to become ever more inward-looking." I mean, that that is as clear a criticism of Trump as you could possibly make. And I suspect that Trump or certainly the people around Trump are as aware as the rest of us are what the speech was about. You know, everywhere from the New York Times to all of the various commentators are describing it for what it is, which was a a major criticism of the direction Trump is taking the world in and the direction he's taking America in. And what's so fascinating is that because of the nature of of of King Charles, his extraordinary fame, thousand-year dynasty, Trump doesn't feel that he can say anything other than, "It was a great speech and I was jealous I didn't give it." It gives the monarchists their strongest argument in years that the monarchy is a good thing for Britain.

[00:09:43]>> Yes, this was what people like to call soft power on full display. and the the monarch showing that that power. I mean, and it makes me smile in a way that that you think of uh Prince Harry making a speech at Kiev and talking about the need to support Ukraine that came and went. He didn't have in a funny kind of way. He could almost have been his father's wingman because he was saying things boldly and boldly which his father wrapped up in the cotton wool of diplomacy and courtesy and it showed you that properly constructed a speech can have an enormous impact on the world stage and I think that King Charles's speech has done that.

[00:10:30]>> There was another thing you wrote in your piece that I thought is notable. So you mentioned for example the Churchill connection. So a few weeks back we have Trump famously turning around and saying stars no Churchill looking at the famous bus which of course he restored to the White House after after Obama had taken it out of the Oval Office. And of course Charles met Churchill and as you say in the piece and I hadn't known this quote but apparently he said about Charles he is young to think so much. So I think heavy in the air in the Oval Office was the ghost of World War II and of course the son of the woman who had been uh an engineer in World War II, the grandson of the man who had led us through the war and stood in the ruins at Buckingham Palace, which I think again to some extent neutered the ahistorical perspective that Trump has. Even though Trump's older and lived through exactly the same era that Charles did, Charles, I think, was inured and emboldened by his implicit connection to that catastrophic war. As we sit here with a lot of us thinking maybe we're on the cusp of yet another one. And so, one thing that occurred to me is, and I suppose this would be my question to you, do you think William would have been able to give a speech like that in such a manner given he's my generation rather than Charles's? That's a very good point. I don't think he would because he's not he's not lived through th those years. He doesn't have that history and Charles has rightly or wrongly has been through the mill and you know and and can speak with that history and it's and it you know it's horses for courses the queen and co I don't think Charles could have made that speech the the the one that the queen made on on co speaking from Windsor Castle and I don't think William could have made this speech because he would have been seen as some young whippers snapper with no experience daring to tell an older man and older men by the way in in the Senate and Congress how they should uh run their lives. Charles and and Camila were a great double act.

[00:12:38]I thought hats off to King Charles for knowing that this was a very difficult gig, but he was he stepped up to the plate and I think even he was surprised by how popular he seemed. There were no walkouts, no booze, um no sitting on of hands. In fact, I think there were something like 12 standing ovations and and they were applauding and wouldn't stop applauding. He he seemed rather beused by it. It's not normally the reception he gets. No, I completely agree. And I I think another thing that um that the speech showed and and and any close observer of the royal family will already have been aware of this, but Charles has got brilliant comic timing and a brilliant sense of humor that was also on full display. And I think it was his humor and they were genuinely good gags. The Oscar Wild gag was brilliant. The gag about burning down the White House was was brilliant and could easily have gone the other way. So, I think it was it was that perfect example of the sweet and sour.

[00:13:40]And as you mentioned in in the piece is the he didn't pull his punches but he was wearing a a velvet glove. So I think another great skill of his was was on show for the global audience yesterday and used to great effect.

[00:13:54]>> Yeah there's a lot of nations who'll be thinking I wish we had a monarch wish we had a head of state who who lived as Churchill said pomp not power. And it shows you that pomp can be very very effective and trump power.

[00:14:13]>> And um you mentioned in the the piece that you posted yesterday that on CNN the story wasn't even top of the bill.

[00:14:20]So on Aaron Bernett and Anderson Cooper it was kind of second or third down the bill after the arrest of James Comey and the row over Jimmy Kimmel's joke about Melania's impending widowhood. You're in America at the moment. Can you can you give us a kind of idea of of how it has gone down in America?

[00:14:38]>> Well, it's not it's not been dissected as as greatly as it as it has in the UK, but it's gone down very well. It is worth pointing out that the former director of the FBI, J, James Comey, was indicted for for attempting to kill the president in a purely trumped up charge.

[00:15:01]the kind of charge that you would see in a banana republic, not in a great nation that lives by the rule of law. And this is the flip side of of us saying pleasant things about Trump in relation to King Charles. That's one side of him.

[00:15:18]The flip side is this desperate need to to attack anyone who's ever come across him in the and to get his revenge. So, you know, it's not like he changed course as a result of listening to King Charles. He he continued in his his vengeful vein and that was reflected in the um in the newscasts in and of course another attempt to kill the president.

[00:15:47]It reminds you of Oscar Wild. you know, one attempted assassination can be accepted, but two looking a little bit um like the Secret Service isn't doing their job. And in fact, we had three.

[00:16:01]We've had three.

[00:16:02]>> I think um it's not impossible that the timing of the arrest warrant that was issued for Comey was in reaction to all of the American newspapers saying that Charles's speech was an indictment of Trumpism. You know, it's there on the front page of the New York Times, which Trump reads religiously. He watches all of the channels religiously, so it won't be lost on Trump what Charles did. But as we discussed earlier, there's nothing he can do about it other than say it was absolutely wonderful, which is one of the reasons it was so clever. Whether there'll be a sting in the tail remains to be seen, but I'd love to know what Trump and his people really thought about the speech as to what they're saying publicly. And it's a very very rare scenario in which we find ourselves that um that they're being subtle and koi about that. It's the opposite of how they are. And it just shows the discombobulating nature of the royal family. You know, we all anyone who's ever met the royals, I I I've I've met a couple of minor royals, so it didn't discombobulate me at all, but anyone you you speak to have met any of the top royals will often tell you they turn into a jibbering wreck. And I think you mentioned in your book how good the queen was at putting people at ease. And we know how good Charles is at putting people at ease as well very often by making them laugh.

[00:17:18]>> Well, at the garden party, um, someone said, "What do you think to my imitation of you, sir?" And he did, "Have you been here long?" And G just said, "Keep trying."

[00:17:30]>> So, yeah, it was a very relaxed performance by the king. and he's all those years of training, all those speeches he's made that nobody's listened to came to head in Congress and in the White House. And he's um you know he's he's certainly earned the civilist