King backs AUKUS, Ukraine in message to Trump

3 weeks ago 6

London: King Charles has lent his weight to the AUKUS submarine pact in a direct message to US President Donald Trump to treat it as a vital alliance, just as Britain and Australia await a Pentagon review that fuels doubts about the vast project.

Addressing a state banquet to honour Trump with lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle, the King reminded the president of the British alliance with the US during two world wars and linked this directly to the AUKUS pact with Australia.

King Charles addresses the state banquet for President Donald Trump.

The remark came with a message to Trump to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian forces – just as British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and European leaders privately lobby for tougher US action to stop the war.

“Our countries have the closest defence, security and intelligence relationship ever known,” Charles said to Trump at the banquet.

“In two world wars, we fought together to defeat the forces of tyranny. Today, as tyranny once again threatens Europe, we and our allies stand together in support of Ukraine to deter aggression and secure peace.

“And our AUKUS submarine partnership, with Australia, sets the benchmark for innovative and vital collaboration.”

The message highlights the British support for Australia and AUKUS when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is preparing to meet Trump in the US next week, with the defence pact a key priority.

The King’s address came during a state banquet that included tech billionaires and banking chiefs as well as News Corp media mogul Rupert Murdoch, combining hard power and high glamour in St George’s Hall in Windsor Castle.

While the King did not elaborate on the AUKUS agreement, his words emphasised the value of the pact when the Pentagon is yet to reveal its review of the program and some key aides – such as Pentagon under-secretary Elbridge Colby – are openly sceptical about the deal.

The message signals the importance of AUKUS in Starmer’s talks with Trump during the president’s state visit to the UK this week, when the prime minister is also expected to urge Trump to do more to help Ukraine.

Trump responded with effusive praise for the King, but he avoided any direct engagement on the strategic message in the King’s address. He said his state visit to the UK this week – an unprecedented second state visit for a US leader – was one of the highest honours of his life.

The president also described the relationship between the US and UK in glowing terms, although without any specific commitments on defence or trade.

“We’re like two notes in one chord or two verses of the same poem, each beautiful on its own, but really meant to be played together,” he said.

“The bond of kinship and identity between America and the United Kingdom is priceless and eternal. It’s irreplaceable and unbreakable. And we are, as a country, as you know, doing unbelievably well.”

He added: “We had a very sick country one year ago.” He did not go further by laying blame for this on his political foes or his predecessor as president, Joe Biden, and he instead spoke of the relationship between the US and UK.

President Donald Trump addresses the state banquet.

“We’ve done more good for humanity than any two countries in all of history,” he said.

“Together, we must defend the exceptional heritage that makes us who we are, and we must continue to stand for the values of the people of the English-speaking world, and we do indeed stand for that.”

The ceremonies at Windsor Castle began when Trump arrived by helicopter with his wife, Melania, and was met by the Prince and Princess of Wales before they walked as a group to see King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The events included a carriage procession – in closed carriages due to wind and scattered rainfall – and a fly-past by the Royal Air Force acrobatic aircraft team.

A key point of the visit took place in St George’s Chapel, the resting place of Queen Elizabeth II, when Trump laid a wreath on her tomb.

The visit included investment pledges from US companies worth billions of dollars, with a big focus on building data centres to power artificial intelligence services such as ChatGPT.

The chief executives joining Trump on the visit included Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.

Australia has forecast a federal cost of up to $368 billion for the AUKUS plan over three decades and is allocating some of that money to the US to support its submarine construction, as well as to the British company Rolls-Royce to support the development of nuclear propulsion systems for the new vessels.

The Pentagon review was first described as a 30-day exercise but is now expected to take until the end of the year, raising doubts about the Trump administration’s commitment to AUKUS.

The Washington Post reported last week that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had assured Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles that the Trump administration would back AUKUS.