U.S. President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation to attend an official state visit with King Charles III, which was handed to him in a letter by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Traditionally, second-term U.S. presidents who have already made an official state visit — Trump met formally with Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 — are asked to tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle.
Trump received the “historic” second invite on Thursday during a meeting at the White House with Starmer, making him the only elected political leader in recent times to be handed two by the British monarchy.
“This is really special, this has never happened before, this is unprecedented,” Starmer told the president.
Upon receiving the invite, Trump held it up to cameras inside the Oval Office.
President Donald J Trump is given a letter from King Charles III, by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office at the White House on Thursday, Feb 27, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
In it, The King asked to meet with the president at Dumfries House, a palatial estate in Scotland, or Balmoral, one of the royal family homes, and suggested the pair review plans for a more extravagant visit.
The letter read in part: “I can only say that it would be … pleasure to extend that invitation once again, in the hope that you … some stage be visiting Turnberry and a detour to a relatively near neighbour might not cause you too much inconvenience. An alternative might perhaps be for you to visit Balmoral.”
“Quite apart from this 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,” the letter continued.
“In so doing, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries of which we are both so proud,” it concluded.
Starmer said the invite “symbolizes the strength of the relationship” between the U.K. and the U.S., before asking Trump if he would accept the king’s “very special” offer.
“The answer is yes,” the president responded.
The hand-signed correspondence comes just over a month after the King sent Trump a written congratulations ahead of his inauguration.
Overseas political leaders, monarchs and presidents are invited by the king on behalf of The Foreign Office, and with permission from the government.