President Donald Trump has voiced support for the United States to become an “associate member” of the British Commonwealth, saying he’s on board if King Charles extends the offer.
The president’s statement came in response to a report in The Sun that claimed the British monarch might make such a proposal during Trump’s upcoming state visit to the United Kingdom.
“I Love King Charles. Sounds good to me,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
The Sun report referenced a so-called “secret offer” said to be in development, a follow-up to a Daily Mail story suggesting that discussions are underway “at the highest levels” to include the United States in the Commonwealth of Nations.
While the British government said any decision would rest with Buckingham Palace, officials under Britain’s Labour government have looked at the royal family as a diplomatic bridge to Trump, who has often praised the monarchy.
The proposal — if true — immediately triggered concerns across the political and social spectrum in the U.S., given the country’s historical split from British rule and the continuing impact of that colonial relationship, particularly on communities of color.
More than two centuries ago, the American colonies broke away from Great Britain to gain self-rule after years of subjugation under the monarchy. The Declaration of Independence, adopted on July 4, 1776, was a rejection of British control, high taxation without representation, and the forced quartering of British soldiers in colonists’ homes. The founding document declared that all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — an ideal contradicted by the simultaneous enslavement of African people that Britain helped perpetuate through its transatlantic slave trade.
British economic power in the 1600s and 1700s was built on its vast naval control and the establishment of global trade networks, many of which relied on enslaved labor. In the Caribbean and on the east coast of North America, enslaved Africans worked plantations producing sugar cane, tobacco, and other commodities that fueled England’s growth.
Trump’s recent policies and public statements have only added to the alarm surrounding a symbolic return to Britain’s fold. Since taking office, he has signed unprecedented executive orders—many of which aim to erase federally supported programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). His administration has also attempted to restrict birthright citizenship and ramp up deportation efforts.
Those actions have reignited comparisons to America’s Jim Crow era, which saw legalized racial segregation and voter suppression tactics across the South.
Following the end of slavery in the 1800s, some African Americans briefly gained political ground. Still, by 1877, reactionary lawmakers had implemented laws and violence to push them back into second-class citizenship.
Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, said recent attacks on DEI efforts are “just a sanitized substitute for the racist comments that can no longer be spoken openly.”
She and other civil rights leaders argue that the broader agenda aims to redefine who is considered a legitimate American and who deserves the federal government’s protection.
Trump’s public desire to annex Canada, whose new prime minister, Mark Carney, recently met with King Charles, is expected to be a central theme of any conversations. Canada has been a Commonwealth member since 1931.
Founded in 1926, the Commonwealth of Nations today includes 56 member states, most of which are former colonies of the British Empire.
The idea of the United States, born out of revolution and resistance to monarchy, now potentially aligning itself with the very institution it once fought to escape, has left critics with one lingering question: How far is too far?
“This isn’t about diplomacy or nostalgia,” one political historian remarked. “It’s about rewriting the meaning of American independence.”
Was a red blooded MAGA supporter. What is he thinking? returning the United States of America back to being a subject of the British crown? If Charles is King of the United States too, what does that make Trump? a stool boy to the King?