Trump hails 'no closer friends than the British' as King Charles visits White House

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday welcomed Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla to the White House with an effusive tribute to the Anglo-American alliance, calling the British America's closest friends and tracing the two nations' bond across centuries of shared history.

"In the centuries since we won our independence, Americans have had no closer friends than the British," Trump said at the greeting ceremony, pointing to shared roots, language and values as the bedrock of an "extraordinary civilization" defended together under twin banners of red, white and blue.

Trump invoked the 1941 Atlantic Charter meeting between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt "to outline a vision for the free world."

"That understanding of our nation's unique bond and role in history is the essence of our special relationship, and we hope it will always remain that way," he said.

Reflecting on the arc from conflict to alliance, Trump marveled that the soldiers who once faced each other as Redcoats and Yankees became the Tommies and GIs—generic terms for soldiers of the respective countries—who, as he put it, "saved the free world" fighting side by side.

He said their ancestors would be "delighted" that the wounds of the Revolutionary War had healed into "most cherished friendship" in the world.

King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a state visit to the US on April 27-30 at Trump's invitation. The trip celebrates the 250th anniversary of American independence and marks Charles's first such visit as king.