For decades after World War II, American presidents have hailed the "special relationship" enjoyed with Great Britain. But as King Charles III arrives in the nation's capital to consort with President Donald Trump, the relationship between the two nations, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the British helm, feels strained. 

"We have a leader who fundamentally doesn't believe in Britain or America or the West," former British Prime Minister Liz Truss said to Just The News about Starmer.

"He spends all his time kowtowing to the Islamists in Britain – the focus of his foreign policy – which is why he took the decision not to allow America to use the bases for the Iranian campaign." 

"This [Starmer] is not somebody who believes in the values that have made our countries great. He doesn't believe in free speech. He doesn't believe in economic growth and energy independence here. He's got the opposite views of President Trump." 

Under Starmer's leadership, Britain has been in a state of economic decline. 

"Britain is now poorer than Mississippi," Truss warned. "The real wages of average people in Britain have not gone up for a long time, but house prices have increased. It's increasingly hard for young people to be able to affford a home, to start a family, and people are very frustrated."

Whatever tensions may exist between Trump and Starmer, Trump's relationship with the king is only loosely influenced by broader U.S.-U.K. strains, such as the ongoing war in Iran. 

Trump has sharply criticized the British government under Starmer for refusing to join U.S. military actions, dismissing U.K. military capabilities, threatening tariffs, and making pointed remarks about Britain’s support, creating a frosty diplomatic backdrop for the current state visit. 

According to Truss, Starmer has taken Britain dangerously close to a debt crisis. 

"We have the most expensive debt in the G7 (Group of Seven). It's on the edge. It keeps rising. Taxes keep rising. We're in an economic doom loop... I fear it will take a crisis to see real change in our country."

The crisis may have already arrived, however, according to U.S. Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., who told John Solomon Reports that the United Kingdom is now "unrecognizable." 

"I don't think that the U.K. is the U.K. They have allowed unbridled mass migration. They have allowed their society to be completely warped, and it's borderline unrecognizable. It's difficult to deal with these European countries as they refuse to protect their societies from values that are 100% opposing to the values that their countries are founded on."

Timmons argued that, practically speaking, there's little point to continuing to have a monarch. "They still have a king. Why? That's not the king of the millions of people they've let in. It's not the king of the mayor of London. So I cannot wait to hear what [Charles] has to say about the direction his country is taking."

Many Britain-first conservatives had high hopes for former Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage. But according to Truss, he's no longer the answer. 

"Nigel Farage, all the conservatives, need to step up and really be bold about what needs to change. There's still too much caution. There's too much concern about what the elite and what the establishment think."

However, Trump has publicly praised King Charles as a “fantastic” friend and expressed hope that the royal visit can help repair ties, resolve underlying differences (such as Charles’ environmental advocacy clashing with Trump’s pro-energy policies) and nurture the king’s role as a symbolic head of state amid political friction that adds quiet strain. 

Trump shared a very warm relationship with the former monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. They met on two occasions, including a 2018 visit to Windsor Castle and a 2019 state visit to Buckingham Palace, where they enjoyed extended conversations, toasts, and moments of mutual appreciation that Trump later described as warm and fun.

Trump often spoke fondly of the Queen, calling her a “grand and beautiful lady” with “great wisdom and a wonderful sense of humor,” while she hosted him graciously and highlighted the strong ties between the US and UK. 

"President Trump is a lover of the royal family. He was very fond of the late queen. He gets on very well with King Charles," Truss said. 

The tradition of state dinners between U.S. presidents and British monarchs began in 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt hosted the first sitting British king, George VI, and Queen Elizabeth at the White House, the first such visit by a reigning monarch to the United States, strengthening ties on the eve of World War II. 

Subsequent exchanges have included President Gerald Ford’s 1976 Rose Garden dinner for Queen Elizabeth II during the U.S. bicentennial, and various White House and Buckingham Palace banquets under presidents like Eisenhower, Kennedy, Reagan, Obama, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Trump.

"There's no doubt that this visit will be a success, just like President Trump's state visit to Britain. He has a real fondness for our country," Truss said.