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King Charles' string of jokes during the glittering state dinner left the room in stitches of laughter. The banquet, the first state dinner of President Trump’s second term, was held as part of celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday. Charles also took the occasion to gift the US president a bell from HMS Trump, what's the story behind it? Watch Shelagh Fogarty and Lewis Goodall analyse Charles' speeches. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #shelaghfogarty #lewisgoodall #trump #donaldtrump #kingcharles #uspolitics #politics #ukpolitics #news #statevisit #royals #royalfamily #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
This speech by the king, I mean, we were all talking about it with bated breath
0:03
I spoke to Emily a couple of days ago about what might be in it. She was very excited. Well, we both were talking about it
0:10
And she's pointed out that somebody close to the king's sort of preparations for this
0:14
had said he was going to zoom out a bit. And he did and talked about civilisation and talked about democracy
0:19
But boy, oh boy, he zoomed in a bit as well, didn't he? He did. And look, I mean, I think it's fair to say
0:24
this could well be a defining moment of King Charles' reign. And I say that partly because I find it difficult to imagine it being the sort of speech
0:33
and the sort of tenor of the sort of speech that his late mother might have given. I think it is different
0:37
I can't quite imagine Queen Elizabeth delivering that speech in that way
0:42
with quite a bit of brio, a lot of self-confidence, enjoying the moment
0:47
I think very often with Queen Elizabeth, sometimes one got the impression this is something that she kind of had to do
0:51
She didn't enjoy the limelight, I think, quite as much. I think she did rye. She did rye, but there was a sort of almost brugasio, really, to what Charles was doing
0:58
He did. I mean, I think we can exaggerate how funny some of the stuff was. But I think that, you know, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't
1:04
I don't think necessarily that Joe Lycett has got anything to worry about
1:08
But nonetheless, I think it is fair to say that he was able to affect a tone
1:13
and deliver some subtle rebukes to the way that Trump operates and what Trump does in a way that, as I say
1:20
I think it's impossible to imagine Queen Elizabeth doing. And it's clearly landed extremely well across the political spectrum in the main
1:27
And although I did note that J.D. Vance, the vice president, did not applaud at all of the moments that some of his compatriots did
1:33
When the king went green. Yes, green, but also talking about support for Ukraine as well
1:37
The only thing I'd say, Sheila, is that, you know, there was a lot of talk and a lot of commentary before this talking about the stakes being high
1:43
The stakes are so high and the rewards could be so high too. And the truth is, is that neither the stakes nor the rewards were ever going to be very high from our point of view for this trip
1:52
And I say that because we have seen the Trump royal show play out so many times now over the last 10 years
1:59
State visits in both directions. Royal visits with the late queen, now with the king and so on
2:05
And all that happens is, people sometimes say, oh, Trump is going to embarrass the queen or the late queen or the king
2:11
He never does because he adores the royal family. We can see that. He adores the royal family
2:15
And his mum had a crush on Prince Charles As we later have come on don we all the fact is that he has an affection for the royal family and he tends to be on his best behaviour around them
2:27
He enjoys the aura of it. He enjoys playing a king alongside a king
2:33
And we saw the White House tweet out overnight a tweet which said, or a picture of the two of them
2:38
saying, two kings. And then what happens is that everybody gets very excited
2:42
and we all pat ourselves on the back in Britain. We say, well, that's gone terribly well. how fantastic British diplomacy at its best
2:48
the royal family at its best. And you know what happened, Sheila? 24 hours later, 36 hours later, 12 hours later
2:54
Donald Trump forgets most of it even happened and just goes back to being Donald Trump
3:00
Let us not forget that it was only in September, September that President Trump was a guest of the royal family
3:07
for a state dinner at Windsor Castle, an experience he described as one of the highest honours of my life
3:15
Months later, he is belittling Keir Starmer and the Royal Navy for not entering the US-Israeli war in Iran
3:21
Which is why the bell, the Trump bell that the king gifted him at the banquet
3:26
did you see this? Yes, I did, yes. The walking great brass bell. Speaking of submarine alliances
3:31
there was one particular AUKUS predecessor, launched from a UK shipyard in 1944
3:39
that served for the majority of her life, attached to the 4th Submarine Squadron in Australia
3:47
playing a critical role during the war in the Pacific. Her name? HMS Trump
3:57
So tonight, Mr President, I am delighted to present to you as a personal gift
4:02
the original bell which hung on the conning tower of your valiant namesake
4:12
may it stand as a testimony to our nation's shared history and shining future
4:21
And should you ever need to get hold of us, or just give us a ring
4:25
from a submarine that fought the age of the the trump yeah it wasn hms oh it the uss trump yeah and i just thought that is that that so good you know because he he was also
4:50
saying you know i i you know he's he talked about his own service in the royal navy in his in his
4:54
big speech and then he'll just forget about it she just goes above well okay and that's fine
4:59
it's for me well yeah exactly yeah this is this is this is for my favorite lbc presenter sheila Fugarty
5:04
Exactly. No, but that's the thing. It does sort of... I mean, I've seen a lot of commentary today
5:11
talking about, oh, how fantastic that, you know, the king was talking about Magna Carta
5:17
and was delivering a subtle rebuke on the basis of executive power
5:21
talking about the importance of checks and balances. Now, A, if I were Trump
5:26
I would think it was a little bit rich for a British king to come over to the United States and start lecturing me, an elected figure
5:32
on the importance of checks and balances in power. Nonetheless, history is having a good old chuckle about that, but nonetheless, let's also remember that Trump wouldn't even think that because it would have gone over his head
5:42
That gag, which was also good, which is actually quite a good one about, you know, if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking French
5:48
Again, Trump wouldn't have understood it. Now, of course, there is an element to say that this wasn't just about Trump
5:54
It was about other people in the room in Congress, for example. and just reminding people in the room that there is another world view
6:00
and this is the way that we, one of your oldest allies, sees the world
6:05
I buy that and as I say, I think the king delivered it with a great deal of aplomb
6:09
But I think, let's not forget as well, there is a reason why royal visits tend to be more successful
6:16
than governmental or political visits that we might have from our prime ministers
6:21
And the reason is this, there's very little at stake. It is majesty. It is pomp. It is pageantry
6:27
It is the dignified part of the Constitution, not the efficient part of the Constitution
6:32
And therefore, there is no friction because when Starmer's going over there, he's asking for things
6:37
He's talking about a tariff deal. He's talking about Ukraine or refusing things
6:43
Whereas, frankly, when the king goes over there, it's all nice high tea and aren't we all terribly good friends
6:49
When he I was watching it very closely and when he spoke about the number of times the Magna Carta is mentioned in Supreme Court judgments I noticed what a man I presume was a member of the Supreme Court because he was in his regal gear Not regal gear legal gear Oh yes Probably John Roberts the Supreme Court justice
7:09
I couldn't say for sure it was a Supreme Court justice, but it was certainly a man in legal robes
7:14
And he kind of... Might have just been someone dressing up. He could be a beef eater. He didn't quite roll his eyes
7:20
but as near as damn it rolled his eyes. And it was a bit... I got the feeling he felt patronised by that one
7:25
But this is the thing. I mean, I can see, and we're all sort of patting ourselves on the back
7:29
I can sort of see how if you're an American, you might have found some of it a touch patronising, I must say
7:34
And also, let's not forget, again, there's a lot of commentary talking about, you know
7:39
how this will have landed with Republicans, you know, this subtle rebuke about executive power
7:44
This came on the day that the State Department issued a 250th special anniversary passport
7:51
sporting none other than Donald Trump's face. Anyone, this is going alongside the fact that for the first time in history, the president's signature is going to be on American banknotes
8:04
And if anybody has been to Washington recently, they will know that you cannot walk through the splendid marble boulevards of this fantastic and historic capital city without seeing Trump's glowering visage and face staring from virtually every federal building
8:21
It is the idolatry of the leader. It's since that. And indeed, not just that
8:28
It's cultish. It's cultish. And, you know, if you were going to use the sort of regime
8:32
that it actually sort of reminds us most of, is a fascistic one because it is this adulation of the leader
8:38
which is something totally alien to the political traditions and history and Republican sentiment of the United States
8:46
I learned a new word during all of this. Semi-quincentennial. Ah, so that's the 250th. Yeah
8:53
Ah, well, there we go. Well, it comes after the bicentennial, of course. Well, we've got the tricentennial to look forward to
8:58
don't we, Sheila? In 2076. I think I'll be dead. No, no way
9:02
You'll just be getting going. No, I'll be dead. No, no, no, no. Finally, some sleep
9:06
We'll be doing our 50 millionth newsagents by then. John's head in a jar, like Futurama
9:13
Hello, Lewis. Welcome to our tricentennial 2076. Trump will still be there, of course
9:19
Would you pass me my glasses? On the 16th term. Okay, we better leave it there
9:23
We're getting very silly
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