LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump plans to make a full state visit to Britain later this year, bypassing a suggestion put forward by King Charles III that the two men first meet informally over the summer when both are expected to be in Scotland.
Complexities in both the monarch’s and the president’s schedules put the kibosh on the idea, Britain's Press Association reported.
The hand-signed formal invitation for the state visit, known as the Manu Regia, was hand-delivered to the White House last week by representatives of the British Embassy in Washington.
The invitation formalizes Trump’s unprecedented second state visit to Britain, which was first suggested in a letter from the king that Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered to the president in February during a meeting at the White House. A date for the state visit has not yet been announced.
The visit is seen as part of Starmer’s effort to curry favor with Trump and lessen the impact of his America First policies on the United Kingdom. But the visit is controversial in Britain, where some lawmakers from Starmer’s Labour Party have questioned whether the honor should be extended to Trump at a time that he is supporting Israel’s war in Gaza and threatening the sovereignty of allies such as Canada and Greenland.
Charles will face his own challenges during the visit because he is head of state of both the United Kingdom and Canada, which Trump has suggested should become the 51st U.S. state. During a speech to the Canadian parliament last month, the king highlighted Canada’s “unique identity” and “sovereignty,” while echoing the words of the country’s national anthem when he said “The True North is indeed strong and free.”
As a constitutional monarch, Charles acts on behalf of the elected government when he extends invitations for state visits. Still, such visits are coveted by many world leaders because it comes with all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the royal family.
Visiting heads of state are normally greeted by the monarch before reviewing a cadre of troops in scarlet tunics and bearskin hats. There is often a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and a glittering state banquet in addition to bilateral meetings with top government officials.
Trump reveled in the ceremony during his first state visit in 2019, hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
“He’s a beautiful man, a wonderful man, and we appreciate it,” Trump said of Charles when he accepted the invitation in February. “I’ve gotten to know him very well, actually. First term and now second term.”
Despite those warm words, Trump didn’t take Charles up on his offer of an informal meeting this summer at one of the royal estates in Scotland, where the king normally spends his August holidays. Trump is expected to visit his golf courses in Scotland at about the same time.
“Quite apart from presenting an opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues of mutual interest, it would also offer a valuable chance to plan a historic second State Visit to the United Kingdom” including questions such as “location and content,” Charles wrote in his preliminary invitation.
The Times of London reported that Starmer had gone against the wishes of the king by bringing Trump’s state visit forward to September. The newspaper said the palace had been hoping for a more leisurely approach building towards the state visit, amid concern over Trump’s designs on Canada.
A spokesman for Starmer said it wasn’t true that the prime minister had overruled Buckingham Palace on the timing. Geraint Ellis said that when Starmer visited the White House in February, he had been “delighted to extend" Charles' invitation for a second state visit.
“We look forward to welcoming President Trump to the U.K.,” he said, adding that details of the visit were a matter for the palace.
Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a media conference at the end of the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - U.S. President Donald Trump and then-Prince Charles inspect the Guard of Honor at Buckingham Palace, Monday, June 3, 2019, in London. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
