Donald Trump’s childish response after seeing picture of King with Zelensky
Donald Trump reportedly feels ‘less special’ after King Charles hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week.
The US President is said to have ‘gone cool’ on the UK, with insiders claiming images of the King and Zelensky together made Trump feel his own state visit invitation to Britain had been overshadowed. During their recent meeting in the White House, Prime Minister Keir Starmer extended an invitation from the King to Trump for a formal state visit, leading Trump to praise him as a “wonderful man”. At the end of the same week, Zelensky was warmly received by Charles at the Sandringham Estate, just a few hours after he had faced a barrage from Trump in the Oval Office.
Trump is said to have reacted badly to photographs of the King and Zelensky together, having initially been buoyed by the prospect of an unprecedented second state visit for a sitting US president. An insider from the White House told the MailOnline: “Things definitely went a bit cool in Washington after Sandringham. We told them that the King makes his own decisions about who he meets.”
Number 10 said they “do not recognise” the reports, adding: “We have been unequivocal about the importance of the US as an ally of the UK. No two countries are as closely aligned as ours on economic, defence, security and intelligence interests, and we share deep historic and cultural ties. We will continue to work hand-in-hand and look forward to welcoming President Trump.”
Whitehall insiders also stressed that the meeting between the King and Zelensky was not a reaction to Trump and Zelensky’s argument at the Oval Office, and pointed out that it had been in the diary for some time. The King previously hosted the Ukrainian President back in 2023, when he told him: “We’ve all been worried about you and thinking about your country for so long.”
This comes after Trump hit back at reports of a major rift between Elon Musk and senior officials within the White House. A heated clash was said to have broken out during a cabinet meeting of Trump’s top team on Thursday, which began when the Tesla billionaire allegedly accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of failing to cut enough staff from his own department.
Speaking to a reporter at the White House on Friday, the president said: “No clash, I was there, you’re just a troublemaker. Elon gets along great with Marco and they’re both doing a fantastic job.”
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