The King left the President feeling emotional last night after presenting him with the original bell from a British Second World War submarine called ‘HMS Trump’.
In a masterclass of soft diplomacy, Charles unveiled the bell from the Royal Navy T-class vessel which launched in 1944 and fought during the war in the Pacific.
The submarine, which is the Royal Navy’s only ship to ever bear the name ‘Trump’, later served in Australia and was scrapped in 1971 – but the bell was saved.
The gift by Charles comes amid a worsening UK-US relationship following verbal attacks by Donald Trump on the British military, its Nato allies and Sir Keir Starmer.
But the President got to his feet and appeared emotional when the King revealed he had brought him the personal gift during his speech at the White House state dinner.
During the King’s speech, he told guests: ‘Today, our partnerships in Nato and Aukus deepen our technological and military cooperation and ensure that, together, we can meet the challenges of an increasingly complex and contested world.
‘And speaking of submarine alliances, 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.
King Charles III presents US President Donald Trump with a large gold bell from HMS Trump
The bell from HMS Trump gifted by King Charles III at the White House state dinner last night
King Charles unveils the bell from the Royal Navy T-class vessel which launched in 1944
The bell from HMS Trump is displayed during the White House state dinner in Washington
King Charles presents President Trump with the bell from HMS Trump at the state dinner
‘May it stand as a testimony to our Nations’ shared history and shining future. And should you ever need to get hold of us… well, just give us a ring!’
The gesture echoed Queen Elizabeth II’s gift on a US visit in 1976 of the Bicentennial Bell cast by London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which made the original Liberty Bell.
The King’s first visit to the US as monarch is intended to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence and herald the start of celebrations across the US.
It comes after Charles is said to have intervened in January when Mr Trump caused fury by claiming that Nato troops stayed ‘a little off the front lines’ in Afghanistan.
Sir Keir also raised the comments directly with Mr Trump in a conversation, and the President then wrote on Truth Social that UK soldiers who fought in the country were ‘among the greatest of all warriors’.
Some 457 British troops were killed in Afghanistan and the King’s son Prince Harry served there on two operational tours in 2007/08 and 2012/13.
Relations between the Prime Minister and Mr Trump have been fractious in recent months, with the President branding the UK’s approach to the Iran war ‘terrible’ and repeatedly lashing out at Sir Keir – at one point describing him as ‘not Winston Churchill’.
But Mr Trump has insisted that the state visit will not be overshadowed by his strained relationship with Sir Keir.
Charles also gifted Mr Trump a framed facsimile of the 1879 design plans for the Resolute Desk, the originals of which are held by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London.
British Royal Navy submarine HMS Trump at sea in an undated photograph. It launched in 1944
A submariner farewells his wife as HMS Trump prepares to leave Sydney, Australia, in 1969
HMS Trump in Sydney in 1969. Built in 1944, Trump had a short but distinguished war career
HMS Trump sits alongside other submarines next to HMS Forth in Malta in the 1950s
These drawings show the front elevation, top and projection of the President’s Desk, currently located in the Oval Office of the White House.
The Resolute Desk was created from the timbers of the British exploration ship HMS Resolute. The US Government recovered and refitted HMS Resolute before sending it back to England where it was presented to Queen Victoria in 1856 as a gesture of goodwill and friendship between the US and the UK.
HMS Resolute went on to serve in the Royal Navy until 1879, when it was decommissioned. Three desks were then made from the ship’s timber by master carpenter William Evenden, at the Royal Navy Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.
In 1880, the finished Resolute Desk was presented to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria.
Meanwhile the President gifted the King a custom facsimile of a letter written from John Adams to John Jay in 1785.
On June 2, 1785, in a letter from John Adams to John Jay, Adams describes King George III receiving Adams as the first US Ambassador to Great Britain at St. James’s Palace.
According to Adams, the meeting was marked by the pomp and ceremony required by the occasion of a royal audience.
But beneath the pageantry, Adams described a strong undercurrent of emotion as the King and his former subject – once bitter enemies – met face to face, as statesmen.
Adams quotes his speech to the King promising to restore friendship between the two nations and the King’s response saying that although he was ‘the last to consent to the separation,’ he would be the first to meet US friendship. Adams notes that this experience might prove useful to later diplomats.
