Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will make a state visit to the United States this spring, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The trip, in April, will commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence and celebrate the “historic connections and the modern bilateral relationship” between the U.K. and the U.S., the palace said in a statement. It follows an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump.
It will be Charles’s first official state visit to the U.S. as king, though as Prince of Wales he visited 19 times, including a trip with Camilla in 2005.
Charles will then head to Bermuda for his first visit to a British Overseas Territory as monarch.
Full schedules for both countries will be released at a later date.
Trump criticizes U.K. again
About an hour before the palace’s announcement, Trump criticized nations including the U.K. for refusing to participate in the war against Iran.
Trump has repeatedly urged other countries to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil shipping route what Iran largely closed after it was attacked by the U.S. and Israel.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “Go get your own oil!”
The U.K. has authorized the U.S. to use its military bases to hit Iranian missile sites threatening shipping and said previously it is discussing other options with allies, including sending naval ships or mine-hunting drones, but has not committed to deploying forces.
WATCH | NATO countries ‘don’t want to help us, which is amazing,’ says Trump:
Trump says NATO making ‘very foolish mistake’ on Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO countries were supportive of the joint U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran, even as they decline to get involved. ‘All of the NATO allies agreed with us … and they don’t want to help us, which is amazing,’ he said during an unrelated Oval Office event with Irish PM Micheál Martin.