Published On 4/26/2026
Anushka Asthana, Americas editor for Britain’s Channel 4 News, wrote that a British government source told her that the use of the word “special” in what was called the “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom was now off-limits.
In her article in the iPaper newspaper, the writer mentioned that this historical “love relationship” suffers from an unbalanced power dynamic, noting that the strength of the ties between British prime ministers and successive American presidents continued for decades, until it was said that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Reagan had a “very special” relationship.
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When it was the turn of current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, at the beginning of US President Donald Trump’s second term, he adopted a style similar to his predecessors, characterized by excessive friendliness, trying to win the favor of the returning US president with a gilded message from King Charles III.
However, the diplomatic corridors in London and Washington are now witnessing a state of extreme tension with the approaching visit of King Charles III to the United States, a visit that comes at a time when the “special relationship” between the two countries is going through a period of unprecedented coolness.
While the British government, led by Keir Starmer, is trying to use “royal magic” as its last diplomatic card to mend rifts with the Trump administration, observers fear that this high-profile occasion will turn into a platform for Trump to express his public contempt for Starmer.
The roots of the tension between the two countries lie in a series of geopolitical differences, most notably the difference in positions on the Iran war, and leaked reports about the possibility of withdrawing American support for Britain’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
This tension prompted Trump to direct harsh criticism, including even the competence of the British Royal Navy, considering that Starmer does not live up to the level of historical leaders such as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
However, intense efforts are being made behind the scenes – as the author says – to ensure the success of the visit and avoid any embarrassing situations, through contacts with influential figures in the US administration, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in order to persuade Trump to tone down his anger a little.
Despite the careful planning that took thousands of hours to ensure that the visit turned out in the best possible way, anxiety prevails among diplomats, because the American President, who is known for going off script and making surprising statements, may not be prevented by “royal protocols” from embarrassing the British Prime Minister in front of his major guest.
Today, London is betting on Trump’s “love of property” to be the bulwark that prevents the collapse of bilateral relations, at a time when the “special relationship” has become just a prohibited term circulating in the corridors of the British government, an expression of a new reality in which the United Kingdom no longer occupies the same place in American accounts.
