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 defence Under Secretary Elbridge Colby – are openly sceptical about the deal.
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The message signals the importance of AUKUS in Starmer’s talks with Trump 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 avoided any direct engagement with the monarch’s strategic message. 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.
US President Donald Trump addresses the state banquet.Credit: Getty Images
“We had a very sick country one year ago,” he said but did not go further by laying blame for this on his political foes or his predecessor, Joe Biden, and he instead spoke of the relationship between the US and UK.
“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.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a message on social media to thank the King for his “steadfast support”, and he added that the UK was defending freedom when tyranny threatened Europe.
Trump arrived by helicopter with his wife, Melania, at Windsor Castle and was met by Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, before they walked as a group to see Charles and Queen Camilla.
Guests raise their glasses for a toast.Credit: Getty Images
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, where 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 included Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.
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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.
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