Inside the White House State Dinner for King Charles: Jokes, toasts and traditions

While the White House is more commonly associated with the grit of policy debates and press briefings, it swapped politics for magnificent Tuesday night. In a rare display of gilded diplomacy, President Trump hosted King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a high-stakes State Dinner, following Charles' historic address to Congress in the US-UK bonds and shared democratic values.

The White House was adorned with the concept of English garden-inspired décor, featuring cherry blossoms, lilacs, and green linens .

Toasts and traditions

Against this spectacular backdrop, both leaders, King Charles and Donald Trump exchanged toasts emphasizing shared history. Trump described the US-UK bond as “a friendship unlike any other on Earth.”, highlighting the shared commitment of both nations to stand together against tyrant forces “of communism, fascism, and tyranny.”

Trump also raised a toast and paid a tribute to King Charles by calling him a “great man.”

The high-profile State Dinner hosting King Charles coincided with the 250th independence anniversary of the US. Trump also acknowledged and thanked Britain for the “great, great gift of a rich inheritance to its former colonies.”

King Charles presented Trump with a bell from the HMS Trump, a WWII-era Royal Navy submarine.

A night of high spirits

Besides shared commitments and praises, light moments in the form of jokes also dominated the State Dinner. King Charles displayed his wit, quipping that the dinner was a “considerate improvement” over the historic 1773 protest.

Donald Trump also joked about how successfully King completed his speech in the Congress.

Trump quipped, “I want to congratulate Charles on having made a fantastic speech today at Congress. He got the Democrats to stand, I've never been able to do that and I couldn’t believe that.”

They liked him more than they ever liked anybody, Republican or Democrat, so I just really want to congratulate King,” President added.

The star-studded guest list featured Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, and Neil Gorsuch, plus Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, and Marc Andreessen, and many more belonging to judiciary , media, sports, politics and business domains.

The menu of the spectacular evening was also finalized by Melania Trump and it was “American right down to its core.” The starter included garden herb velouté and hearts of palm salad. The main course featured Dover sole meunière with brown butter along with a beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau as dessert.

On the third day, the royal couple will travel to New York City to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial to honour the victims of the 2001 attacks, specifically commemorating the 67 British citizens who lost their lives.