President Donald Trump has welcomed his royal guests with a shocking breach of protocol.
On Monday, April 27, King Charles and Queen Camilla landed in the United States for their four-day state visit and were welcomed by the President and First Lady Melania Trump at the White House.
At their very first meeting, the monarch was hit by a violation of an unwritten royal protocol, as Trump once again made a blunder.
After the two couples exchanged greetings and took photographs at the White House’s South Law, they were headed to the main residence for a garden party.
As the President turned to walk ahead, he lightly tapped King Charles on the shoulder, breaking the royal protocol of avoiding physical contact with the monarch without invitation.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, body language expert Judi James said, "This touch on the arm as they walked in also looked like a more political gesture.
"It was also the first real gesture of active, 'special' friendship here from a rather more subdued Trump than the very effusive rituals we saw during their last meeting [in September 2025],” she stated.
The expert went on to note that King Charles appeared unfazed by this violation of protocol as he has “always seemed more relaxed about that than his mother [Queen Elizabeth II], and Trump's gesture was extremely tempered for Trump. Just a light, tentative and rather polite touch to steer Charles inside.”
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time President Trump has broken the royal protocol with British monarchs, as during his 2018 state visit to the UK, he was photographed turning his back on the late Queen Elizabeth II and walking ahead of her as they reviewed the troops.
