While Donald Trump had affirmed in January that without the support of the Americans during the Second World War, Europeans would speak German, King Charles III returned the American president's coin on Tuesday, declaring that without the British, "[the Americans would speak] French".

Published on: 04/29/2026 - 07:45

King Charles III paid back Donald Trump on Tuesday April 28 during a state dinner at the White House, humorously asserting that Americans would speak French if the British had not also colonized North America.

A reference to the remarks made in January at the Davos summit by the American president to Europeans: without the support of the United States during the Second World War, "you would speak German and a little Japanese", he declared.

In a speech under the auspices of the White House, Charles III, received on a state visit since Monday, mentioned the British and French origins of many toponyms in the United States, due to the settlement, in the past, of settlers from the two former rival powers.

“You recently declared, Mr. President, that without the United States, European countries would speak German. Dare I say that without us you would speak French,” slipped the sovereign, triggering laughter from the audience.

The king also joked about the White House's "readjustments" regarding the expensive ballroom project championed by the Republican billionaire. “I regret to say that we, the British, of course attempted our own project of redevelopment of the White House in 1814,” he said. That year, troops from the United Kingdom, at war against its former colony, burned several public buildings in Washington, including the residence of American presidents.

Charles III also teased his allies that the dinner was "a vast improvement on the Boston Tea Party," when in 1773 colonists threw shiploads of heavily taxed British tea into the sea in an episode that foreshadowed the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775.

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Donald Trump targeted his opponents with his own humor. “I want to congratulate Charles for giving a fantastic speech today in Congress,” he said. “He made the Democrats stand up, which is something I’ve never been able to do.”

Charles III and Donald Trump both praised the “special relationship” between London and Washington, despite disagreements over the war in Iran.

The king gave his interlocutor as a gift the bell of an aptly named ship, the HMS Trump, a British submarine commissioned in 1944: "May it bear witness to the shared history of our nations and their bright future. And if one day you need to reach us, do not hesitate to ring us."

With AFP

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