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The day so far
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Donald and Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House for the second day of their state visit to the US. The unprecedented pomp-filled arrival ceremony featured a military parade, canon fire and a military jet flyover, with top members of Trump’s cabinet in attendance. Despite fears that the US president could go off the rails and embarass the British monarch publicly, Trump remarkably stuck to the script in his brief remarks, praising the shared history of the US and UK and declaring that “Americans have no closer friends than the British”. After holding a meeting with Trump off-camera, Charles will later address a bipartisan session of the US Congress, with a state banquet to follow tonight back at the White House. The king is expected to use the speech to Congress to call for “reconciliation and renewal” amid strained relations between the US and UK over the US-Israeli war on Iran. “Time and again our two countries have always found ways to come together,” he is expected to say. Here’s our preview.
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Earlier, Trump claimed without evidence that Iran had “just informed” Washington that they are in a “state of collapse” and want the US to open the strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible”. Trump claimed this comes as Iran tries to “figure out” their “leadership situation”, which he says he believes is possible. We have not been able to verify the US president’s claims, and Iran has yet to comment on them.
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It comes as Trump has reportedly signaled to his top advisers that he is dissatisfied with and unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which would reopen the strait of Hormuz and leave discussion of Iran’s nuclear program for a later date. It is not immediately clear why the president is not satisfied with the proposal – but Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons – and his next steps remain unclear. More on our Middle East blog.
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Jimmy Kimmel refused to apologise for a joke made days before the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting in which he described Melania Trump as glowing “like an expectant widow”, after both Donald Trump and the first lady accused him of inciting violence. During his Monday night monologue, Kimmel pointed out he made the joke three days before the alleged assassination attempt. “Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said. “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination. And they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, in particular.” Here’s our story.
Key events
CNN: Comey indicted by Justice Department, again
James Comey has been indicted a second time by Donald Trump’s justice department, months after a federal judge dismissed its initial case against the former FBI director, according to a new report in CNN. A source familiar confirmed to the Guardian that Comey had been indicted, but the charges were not immediately clear.
Comey is one of the president’s most high-profile political adversaries and Trump has repeatedly called for his prosecution, including in an extraordinary public message to the then-attorney general Pam Bondi. Trump recently fired Bondi after growing frustrated with the lack of progress Bondi had made on prosecuting the president’s political enemies
Last year, the Justice Department first brought criminal charges against Comey, accusing him of lying to Congress over leaks to the press. The case was later thrown out by a federal judge, who concluded that the prosecutor handling the case, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed.
In the opinion, Judge Cameron McGowan Currie wrote that Halligan had “no lawful authority to present the indictment” against the former FBI director and New York attorney general, Letitia James, another political adversary of Trump’s.
But the effort to prosecute Comey appears to have been restarted by the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, who is publicly angling to be appointed permanently to the role.
Read the full story here.
Anna Betts
At the roundtable, the brother of the late Virginia Giuffre criticized King Charles III for not meeting with survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse during his visit to the United States this week.
“Survivors are here sitting with members of Congress, still fighting to be heard, still pushing for real accountability, while many of the powerful figures connected to these systems remain just out of reach, unable to acknowledge survivors face to face,” Giuffre’s brother Sky Roberts said. “You would expect this to be a moment for the king to give a message to the world that he stands with survivors.”
The discussion included relatives of Giuffre, who took her own life last year, Sharlene Rochard and Danielle Bensky, Epstein survivors, and representatives from several human rights and women’s rights organizations.
The scandal surrounding Epstein, along with the recent release of US Department of Justice files related to him, has reverberated around the world but particularly in the UK, where the relationship between Epstein and the king’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has plagued the royal family for several years.
Giuffre, one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers, alleged that Mountbatten-Windsor had sexually abused her after she was trafficked by Epstein.
Mountbatten-Windsor has repeatedly denied these claims. In February, he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, stemming from allegations he may have shared confidential material with Epstein while serving as a UK trade envoy. He has denied any wrongdoing or accusations against him and has not been charged.
Earlier today on Capitol Hill, congressman Ro Khanna said King Charles declined his invitation to meet with some of the survivors and family members of Jeffry Epstein’s abuse.
The California Democrat has played a central role in forcing the disclosure of millions of sealed documents related to the late financier’s sex-trafficking network, which has rolied the British royal family.
King Charles eventually stripped his brother, the former Prince Andrew, of his royal titles and privileges over his links to Epstein.
“I thought it would have been a incredible moment and statement to show that it doesn’t matter how much wealth you have, how much power you have, no human being is dispensable and that the survivors deserve justice,” Khanna said. “He unfortunately declined that request.”
But Khanna said he had been assured by the British ambassador that there would be an acknowledgement of the survivors in the King’s speech to Congress. “I hope his flunkies don’t take out the acknowledgment from his address,” the congressman said.
Late last year, the King officially stripped his brother, the former Prince Andrew, of his HRH style and his prince title over his connection to Epstein.
Donald Trump says Oval Office meeting with King Charles was ‘really good’ and calls monarch ‘fantastic person’
Trump said the private Oval Office meeting with King Charles was “really good” and called the monarch a “fantastic person”.
The off-camera exchange avoids the fate of other foreign leaders subject to a public upbraiding by the US president and other senior administration officials.
According to the Guardian’s earlier reporting, British officials have pushed for the Oval Office meeting between the monarch and the US president to be held off camera for fear of a repeat of the scenes when Trump berated the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in front of the world’s press.
“It was a really good meeting,” Trump told reporters in brief remarks afterward. “He’s a fantastic person. They’re incredible people and it’s a real honor.”
US to embassies: deny visas to applicants who say they fear return to home country
Joseph Gedeon
Applicants seeking a temporary visa to the United States must now tell a consular officer that they have not experienced harm and do not fear returning to their home country, according to new guidance issued from the state department. If they answer yes or decline to respond to either question, the chance they will be denied will skyrocket.
The Guardian obtained a state department cable which instructs officers at every US embassy and consulate globally to amend their process and ask applicants to affirm they do not fear mistreatment if they return home as a prerequisite for the interview to continue.
The two new questions are: “Have you experienced harm or mistreatment in your country of nationality or last habitual residence?” and “Do you fear harm or mistreatment in returning to your country of nationality?”
The directive claims that the new process is designed to cut down on what the department claims are people misrepresenting themselves during the visa process.
Chris Stein
On Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel refused to apologise for a joke made days before the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting in which he described Melania Trump as glowing “like an expectant widow”, after both Donald Trump and the first lady accused him of inciting violence.
Melania Trump accused Kimmel of “hateful and violent rhetoric” and “atrocious behavior”, and said it was “time for ABC to take a stand” against the comedian, who has long been critical of Trump and his policies.
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host made the joke on Thursday, well before the Saturday attack on the White House correspondents’ dinner, during a skit in which the ABC host pretended to be the event’s MC.
FCC to order early license reviews of Disney-owned ABC stations – report
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to order early reviews of eight Disney-owned ABC stations as soon as Tuesday in a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s fight with major media outlets, a source told Reuters.
The reviews – which could lead to the FCC seeking to revoke the stations licenses to operate on broadcast airwaves – come in the wake of the White House call to fire ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel but are not directly tied to that, the source added. The FCC, an independent federal agency, issues eight-year licenses to individual broadcast stations, and has not revoked a broadcast TV station license in more than 40 years.
Kirsty McEwen
The royal White House visit’s aim of repairing the strained special relationship may have suffered a setback after the Financial Times reported comments by Britain’s new ambassador to Washington.
Christian Turner said it was “extraordinary” that scandals around Jeffrey Epstein had brought down a member of the royal family and senior officials in Britain “and yet here in the US, it really hasn’t touched anybody”, reported the Financial Times.
A recording of Turner’s comments to a group of British students was published on Tuesday by the FT, which said they were made in February.
Turner also said: “I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States – and that is probably Israel.”
He said, though, that the UK and the US share “a deep history and affinity” and that “particularly on our defense and security, we are intertwined”.
The UK foreign office said “these were private, informal comments” and “certainly not any reflection of the UK government’s position”.
The Trumps, King Charles and Queen Camilla are now walking around the White House tennis pavilion, greeting student state champions from the presidential AI challenge as harpist plays on the lawn.
The cameras are following Melania Trump and Queen Camilla as they speak to some of the participants. Though there is no audio, they appear to be inquiring about the students’ work.
The day so far
-
Donald and Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House for the second day of their state visit to the US. The unprecedented pomp-filled arrival ceremony featured a military parade, canon fire and a military jet flyover, with top members of Trump’s cabinet in attendance. Despite fears that the US president could go off the rails and embarass the British monarch publicly, Trump remarkably stuck to the script in his brief remarks, praising the shared history of the US and UK and declaring that “Americans have no closer friends than the British”. After holding a meeting with Trump off-camera, Charles will later address a bipartisan session of the US Congress, with a state banquet to follow tonight back at the White House. The king is expected to use the speech to Congress to call for “reconciliation and renewal” amid strained relations between the US and UK over the US-Israeli war on Iran. “Time and again our two countries have always found ways to come together,” he is expected to say. Here’s our preview.
-
Earlier, Trump claimed without evidence that Iran had “just informed” Washington that they are in a “state of collapse” and want the US to open the strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible”. Trump claimed this comes as Iran tries to “figure out” their “leadership situation”, which he says he believes is possible. We have not been able to verify the US president’s claims, and Iran has yet to comment on them.
-
It comes as Trump has reportedly signaled to his top advisers that he is dissatisfied with and unlikely to accept Iran’s latest proposal to end the war, which would reopen the strait of Hormuz and leave discussion of Iran’s nuclear program for a later date. It is not immediately clear why the president is not satisfied with the proposal – but Trump has repeatedly insisted that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons – and his next steps remain unclear. More on our Middle East blog.
-
Jimmy Kimmel refused to apologise for a joke made days before the White House correspondents’ dinner shooting in which he described Melania Trump as glowing “like an expectant widow”, after both Donald Trump and the first lady accused him of inciting violence. During his Monday night monologue, Kimmel pointed out he made the joke three days before the alleged assassination attempt. “Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” he said. “It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am. It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination. And they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, in particular.” Here’s our story.
After Donald Trump’s brief remarks, the four of them departed the stage and ascended the steps to a White House balcony, where they chatted as they watched the troops marching and playing across the south lawn.
After a military flyover, they waved to the crowd and went into the White House, where the president and King Charles will hold an off-camera bilateral meeting this morning.
Donald Trump praises UK relationship during speech at White House
Trump also paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II, Charles’s mother, referring to a tree she planted at the White House in 1991:
Queen Elizabeth II – very, very special woman who is very greatly missed on both sides of that mighty Atlantic – long ago planted a young tree, was a very young and beautiful tree, and look at it now.
Like the US, the tree “was laid by British hands on American soil”, he said.
In the centuries since the US achieved independence, Trump added, “Americans have had no closer friends than the British”.
Just to give more context to Trump’s “cute” comment, he was talking about how his mother, who was born in Scotland, had a “crush” on Charles.
He said his mother “loved the royal family”, adding:
Any time the Queen was involved in a ceremony … my mother would be glued to the television, and she’d say, ‘look Donald, look how beautiful that is’.
She really did love the family … but I also remember her saying very clearly, Charles … he’s so cute … my mother had a crush on Charles. Can you believe it?
Paying tribute to that shared history, Trump said:
Before Americans had a nation or a constitution, we first had a culture, a character and a creed. Before we ever proclaimed our independence, Americans carried within us the rarest of gifts – moral courage – and it came from a small but mighty kingdom from across the sea.
Trump speaks much of the “centuries-old bond” between the US and UK and the shared history between the two nations, with references to Magna Carta and the American war of independence.
He’s also complimented King Charles’s “beautiful accent” and just called the monarch “cute”.
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