Donald Trump has labeled President Joe Biden "disrespectful" for not attending the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, after the White House announced that First Lady Jill Biden would represent the U.S. in his place.
King Charles is set to become the 40th monarch crowned in a special coronation service at London's Westminster Abbey on May 6, witnessed by world leaders and diplomats as well as representatives of the world's royal families.
It was announced on April 4 from the White House that President Biden had a telephone conversation with the king, congratulating him on his coronation and "informed him that First Lady Jill Biden looks forward to attending on behalf of the United States."
In an interview from his Scottish golf resort for Britain's GB News TV network, former President Trump made clear his feelings about Biden's decision not to attend.
Asked by former politician and broadcaster Nigel Farage what the president's non-attendance says about his "relationship with the U.K.", Trump responded: "I don't think he can do it physically actually. I think it's hard for him to do it physically. I think getting over here for him—he's got a lot of things going and a lot of strange things happen—but certainly he should be here as our representative of our country."
"I was surprised when I heard that he wasn't coming," he said. "You would think he would be here. He'll be in Delaware were he spends a lot of time. He spent a lot of time there during the [2020 presidential] election. I think it's very disrespectful for him not to be here."
Later in his interview, Trump labeled Biden "incompetent" for his policies as president, saying that he was "not running our country" but it was instead run by a "very smart group of Marxists or Communists, or whatever you want to call them."
"He's now in Delaware sleeping," he added. "He can't even come to your coronation. As a country, your coronation is a big event, hopefully that won't take place for another long time. He'll [King Charles] live a good life and she [Queen Camilla] will live a good life and it'll be a long time, but that's a big event. That's a big event. And when you have someone who's going to be sleeping instead of coming to the coronation as president of the United States, I think that's a bad thing."
Historically, Biden's decision not to attend is in line with precedent. No U.S. president has attended the coronation of a British sovereign. However, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish President Andrzej Duda are among the world leaders who have accepted invitations.
Trump and Biden have both announced that they are running for office in the 2024 presidential election.
Trump has previously spoken of his admiration for members of the royal family, writing at the time of Queen Elizabeth II's death in September 2022 that: "Spending time with her majesty was one of the most extraordinary honors of my life."
Speaking about King Charles in his interview, Trump said that he got to know the royal well during his visits to the U.K. as president.
"I think he's going to be fantastic," he said about Charles' future as monarch. "I think he's going to be a fantastic representative as king."
He offered similar praise for Camilla, who he said "will do a great job," recalling her "wonderful personality" which he experienced sitting next to her at a state banquet held in his honor at Buckingham Palace in 2019.
Members of the royal family about whom Trump has been less than complimentary in public over the years include Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
It was announced in March that while Harry would attend his father's coronation, Meghan would not.
"I was actually surprised that Harry was invited, to be honest," Trump said after the royal's criticism of his family in his memoir and a Netflix show. "He said some terrible things, when you see what he said, and the book was just...to me, it was horrible."
He went on to accuse Meghan of being "very disrespectful" to Queen Elizabeth II.
"She went through years and decades without controversy," he said. "You cannot be disrespectful to her and I think Meghan was very disrespectful to her, very disrespectful."
Newsweek has approached the White House, the office of Trump and representatives of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle via email for comment.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more
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