Trump says his mother had a crush on King Charles amid palpable tension

A formal visit by King Charles III to the US exposed simmering tensions between the monarch and former President Donald Trump, despite displays of mutual respect.

Even as United States President Donald Trump spoke of his mother's 'crush' on King Charles III, and spoke of the United Kingdom-like weather, the simmering tension was quite visible between the leaders, comparable to that between the nations.

The Royal Couple were in the US on a formal visit that began Tuesday when Trump said he was 'jealous' of the King's excellent speech at the ceremony held to greet the visiting dignitaries.

While Trump mostly stuck to the conventional speech, he said, "Thank you very much, everybody. What a beautiful British day this is. And it really is. Your Majesties, members of the British delegation, friends, service members, and distinguished guests, welcome to the beautiful White House. It is a great honour to have you. Melania and I will never forget the spectacular honour Your Majesties showed us during our extraordinary visit to Windsor Castle last September. Now it is our tremendous privilege to host you. You're going to have a wonderful short stay, but a stay nevertheless," he said.

"Then you're going over to Congress, and you're going to make a speech that's going to make everybody very envious of that beautiful accent of yours. Very elegant. He's a very elegant man," the US President said.

Midway through the speech, Trump also mocked that his marriage with Melania would not last as long as his parents' marriage did.

Trump's Sentimental Reflections On The Royal Family

"My wonderful mother, Mary MacLeod, was born in Stornoway, Scotland, in the Hebrides, and that's what they call 'very serious Scotland'. There's no question about it. Some places they say, well, it wasn't really Scotland. The Hebrides--that's real, serious Scotland. That's where they had their greatest of warriors. She came to America at 19 and met my incredible father. We loved him so much. Fred and she were married for 63 years. And excuse me, if you don't mind, that's a record we won't be able to match, darling. I'm sorry. It's just not going to work out that way. We'll do well, but we're not going to do that well," he said.

In a further detour from the topic, Trump revealed that his mother had a 'crush' on the King and was very fond of Queen Elizabeth.

"My mother, I just see it so clearly, she loved the Royal Family and she loved the Queen. Anytime the Queen was involved in a ceremony or anything, my mother would be glued to the television and she'd say, 'Look, Donald, look how beautiful that is'. She really did love the family. But I also remember her saying very clearly, 'Charles, look. Young Charles, he's so cute'. My mother had a crush on Charles. Can you believe it? Amazing--I wonder what she's thinking right now," he said.

King Charles's Subtle Rebuttals And Diplomatic Manoeuvres

While both leaders heaped poetic praises on each other, King Charles rebuffed Trump's earlier criticisms by speaking about NATO and the Royal Navy.

"There was one particular AUKUS predecessor, launched from a UK shipyard in 1944 that served for the majority of her life attached to the 4th Submarine Squadron in Australia playing a critical role during the war in the Pacific. Her name? HMS Trump -- so tonight, Mr President, I am delighted to present to you, as a personal gift, the original bell which hung on the conning tower of your valiant namesake. May it stand as a testimony to our nation's shared history and shining future," he said.

The King addressed the Congress- only the second time a British monarch did so, as per The New York Times.

"Please rest assured I am not here as part of some cunning rear-guard action!" the king said, as quoted by The New York Times.

Contrasting Views And Underlying Tensions

Trump's actions this time were very disciplined this time. He did not invite a horde of reporters into the Oval Office just before their meeting to field questions on Iran, the ballroom or Greenland in the presence of his visiting foreign dignitary.

He did not lash out at another global ally.

King Charles appeared to address the Jeffrey Epstien-related scandal that caused cracks in the Royal Family and quite the ripple in the Trump administration.

"In both of our countries, it is the very fact of our vibrant, diverse and free societies that gives us our collective strength, including to support victims of some of the ills that, so tragically, exist in both our societies today," Charles said.

The relations between the UK and the US are at their lowest point now and the King pushed back against Trump's belittling of UK PM Kier Starmer and the Royal Navy.

The King, who is an ardent environmentalist, also spoke of 'the natural wonders' of the United States and 'our shared responsibility to safeguard nature, our most precious and irreplaceable asset'.

This was in stark contrast to Trump's pulling away from the Paris agreement, the only one to abandon the cause of tackling global warming, as per The New York Times.

Trump has lashed out at his NATO allies, including Starmer, for not joining the US efforts to break the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of global oil passes. He also called them 'cowards'.

He had even shared a UK comedy skit from 'Saturday Night Live' on March 22 which portrays a nervous Starmer being anxious to speak to Trump.