U.S.-UK special relationship suffers ahead of royal state visit

A year ago, the U.K. was negotiating a trade deal with Washington and President Donald Trump’s fondness for the country, his mother’s birthplace, suggested a positive outlook for the two countries’ unusually close diplomatic ties.

Britain was the first country to sign a trade pact with the U.S. in May 2025, enjoying remarkably good relations with the White House and its mercurial leader, despite his political differences with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, leader of the left-wing Labour Party and a former human rights lawyer.

But a year later, things look different.

The president’s tariff policies, provocative threats against Greenland (a semi-autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark) and the war against Iran have tested old alliances.

Trump has criticized NATO allies for not supporting military operations against Iran and singled out the U.K. in particular, denigrating its military, domestic and foreign policies, and questioning its loyalty.

Even as King Charles III and Queen Camilla prepare for a state visit to the U.S. at the end of April, Trump has warned this week that the U.K.’s trade deal, which secured it a baseline 10% import tariff, could be ripped up.

“We gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed. But we gave them a trade deal that was very good because they’re having a lot of problems,” Trump told Sky News, adding that while he likes Starmer, the U.S.-U.K. “special relationship” had “been better.”

“It’s sad,” Trump said.

The U.K. likes to describe its ties to the U.S. as a “special relationship,” a phrase coined by Winston Churchill in 1946. The relationship has seemed unusually strong at times in recent history, such as the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who built on strong personal relationships with Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, respectively.

Trump said in a Truth Social post: “How is the relationship? It’s the relationship where: when we asked them for help, they were not there. When we needed them, they were not there. When we didn’t need them, they were not there. And they still aren’t there.”

He did, however, describe the king this week as a “wonderful person,” a “friend” whom he “greatly” respects.

Sky News noted, however, that visits by the monarch take place at the direction of the British government.

Starmer and finance minister Rachel Reeves have said that the U.K. will not get “dragged into” the Iran war, which is not popular among European leaders.

Starmer doubled down on his position on Wednesday when asked to comment on Trump’s threat to withdraw the trade deal, telling lawmakers he is “not going to yield” to pressure from the White House. His comments came before Friday when Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz completely open to commercial traffic during the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.

“I’m not convinced this conflict has made the world a safer place,” Reeves said at CNBC’s Invest in America forum earlier this week when asked about the war. “It’s not been clear over the last six weeks what exactly the aim of this conflict is,” she added.

She described the war as a “mistake.”

Trump sees European reluctance to assist military operations in Iran as disloyalty and ingratitude, particularly in the context of U.S. support for Ukraine. U.K. and European counterparts, meanwhile, are unhappy about further damage to their economies following the hits taken from tariffs and the Ukraine war.

Starmer, Reeves and the Bank of England had been betting on persistent inflationary pressures finally fading and the economy starting to recover, with interest rates set to come down, easing the cost of living burden on households and businesses.

Trump’s war against Iran put paid to that, however. The U.K. is a net importer of energy and the global energy price surge, caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, is set to hit its economy hard.

Reeves told CNBC’s Sara Eisen on Wednesday that “first and foremost in my mind are families and businesses in the U.K. who are having to deal with higher prices, higher borrowing costs today because of this conflict.”

The U.K. felt very strongly, she said, that “de-escalation is now the key priority to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for vessels to be able to travel freely and safely through that strait so we can get oil and gas back onto the global market and to start to bring down the interest rates [regarding borrowing costs] that have risen over the last six weeks.”

Reeves said the U.S. and U.K. still enjoyed a “very good relationship,” adding: “We don’t always have to agree on everything.”

The British government will be hoping that the royal state, which take place at the direction of the U.K. government, visit can smooth over any wrinkles in the relationship. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson this week said the trip would recognize “the challenges the United Kingdom, the United States, and our allies face across the world.”

“This visit is a moment to reaffirm and renew our bilateral ties as we address those challenges together, in the ​U.K.’s national interest.”