King Charles will warn Trump about the fate of the planet. Trump probably won’t listen.

By Charlie Cooper | 09/16/2025 01:09 PM EDT

King Charles III is a lifelong environmentalist. Donald Trump is unraveling global efforts to combat climate change.

President Donald Trump and then-Prince Charles talk to one another at Buckingham Palace on June 3, 2019, in London.

President Donald Trump and then-Prince Charles talk to one another at Buckingham Palace on June 3, 2019, in London. Pool photo by Victoria Jones

LONDON — It was June 2019, and the president of the United States was taking tea with the future British king.

The meeting between Donald Trump and then Prince Charles was scheduled to last 15 minutes. It stretched to an hour and a half.

Trump could barely get a word in edgeways. Charles did “most of the talking,” the president told a TV interviewer the day after they met.

Advertisement

One topic dominated. “He is …” Trump said, hesitating momentarily, “… he is really into climate change.”

GET FULL ACCESS