Donald Trump has returned to the White House like a bull in a china shop and, in just three weeks, has lashed out against everyone and almost everything, threatening to disrupt the fragile balances of global geopolitics. However, at least for now, it seems that his outbursts respect an institution for which the Republican - like many Americans - feels fascination: the British royal family. Thus, the president resolved on Saturday an important doubt that had been lingering since his electoral victory in November, which directly affected the Windsors. Trump made it clear that he will not expel Prince Harry from the United States, the rebellious son of King Charles III. As president, he will lend him a hand, he will protect him.
When asked by a journalist, he said he would not expel the also son of the late Lady Di even if it were proven that he intentionally lied about his drug consumption in the past when applying for his visa. "I don't want to do that. I will leave him alone," clarified Trump in exclusive statements to The New York Post. However, he then added something that shows that he has neither forgiven nor intends to forgive Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, whom he probably does not consider a member of the British royal family as such, but rather a mere upstart. "[Harry] Already has enough problems with his wife. She is terrible."
The controversial visa of Prince Harry in the US is a thorny issue that has been lingering since 2023 when the Heritage Foundation questioned the legality of granting residency to King Charles III's second son, as in his explosive memoir, In the Shadow, he admitted to drug use, something incompatible with his permission from the US Department of Immigration. The Biden Administration blocked the release of Harry's file. But the mentioned organization had high hopes that things would change with Trump's arrival.
Back in March, Donald Trump, then newly starting his reelection campaign, warned Prince Harry of revoking his visa if it was proven that he had lied about drug use when applying. In an interview with the populist politician and Brexit leader Nigel Farage on GB News, Trump said that no preferential treatment should be given to the Duke of Sussex. "We will have to see if there is any information about drugs, and if he lied, appropriate actions will have to be taken," he said. The conservative Heritage Foundation had just filed a lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security believing that the application of the expatriated prince should have been rejected.
At that time, Trump also attacked Harry for "not respecting" his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II. The president always showed a deep admiration for the sovereign, inherited from his own mother. In fact, the Republican likes to recall the affection his mother felt for the greatest queen in UK history.
As president, Trump can use his prerogatives to protect Harry's stay in the US, regardless of whether he lied or not when applying for his visa. And it seems that this is what he is willing to do. However, at the same time, he will not refrain from poking at Meghan Markle. The president is very fixated on the idea of her being "unpleasant and disagreeable", as he himself recounted that the Duchess of Sussex was with him. Trump once called her a "Democratic activist." And indeed, there are statements from her in the archives, when she was still an actress and not part of the British royal family, that were contrary to the magnate.
Of course, Trump is no stranger to being a loudmouth himself. When he was a famous businessman away from politics, he suggested that he could have had an affair with Princess Diana, something that must have shaken the foundations of Buckingham. Or later on, he wrote on his social media that Kate Middleton was solely to blame for being photographed topless by paparazzi because "she shouldn't sunbathe naked."
But none of this prevented Trump from flirting with the British Monarchy during his first presidential term. "There was no one like her!," he reacted to the death of Elizabeth II in 2022, highlighting her "generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor," defining her as a "beautiful lady."
"Our father and our entire family have tremendous respect for the Monarchy," recently emphasized Eric Trump, the Republican's son, to the Daily Mail, not sparing in praise: "I think one of the greatest and most beautiful things about the UK is the royal family, what it represents, and what it symbolizes."