Thankless task awaits Charles as soft power of crown meets mercurial Trump

Will the president’s reverence for royalty ease transatlantic tensions or will his protocol-smashing predilection prevail? Some expect a masterclass in soft power. Others warn of a brutal humiliation. Few in the US will envy King Charles, a royal whose entire life has been governed by protocol, next week when he faces a man who glories in smashing it. The British king will travel to Washington for a private tea and state dinner with Donald Trump at a moment when the “special relationship” has been plunged to its lowest point in 70 years by the US president’s war in Iran and belittlement of the prime minister, Keir Starmer. Trump, for his part, may be hoping that the pageantry of a royal visit will provide a welcome distraction from domestic political troubles that have dragged his approval rating down to 33%. But his recent broadsides against the pope demonstrated his contempt for once sacred norms; Washington will be watching closely to see if Charles suffers a similar fate. “The king is in a challenging spot,” said Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania. “He’s attempting to use the soft power of the position that he holds yet at the same time tiptoe around the