Trump Told King Charles His Mom Had A Crush On Him & It Got Weird Fast

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Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post via Getty Images

What to Know

01 President Donald Trump recently mentioned that his mom had a crush on King Charles—when King Charles was sitting right beside him.
02 Trump's comments and King Charles' reaction have gone viral online.
03 Reactions have been mixed, as some people find Trump's comments inappropriate.

During his state visit, King Charles looked a bit uncomfortable sitting on stage while President Donald Trump spoke. Trump, who is obviously known for veering off topic, started talking about his late mother’s crush on King Charles mid-speech—with King Charles seated right beside him.

The awkward moment has gone viral on social media, and some critics find it inappropriate for several different reasons.

Trump suddenly revealed that his mom thought King Charles was “cute.”

While addressing a crowd on the White House South Lawn, the 79-year-old started speaking about how his mother, Mary Anne Trump, had seemed so invested in the British royal family. “Any time the Queen was involved at a ceremony or anything, my mother would be glued to the television, and she’d say, ‘Look Donald, look how beautiful that is,'” Trump recalled.

Mary Anne, who died in 2000 at age 88, appeared to have an interest in the whole family—but also had a crush on King Charles specifically, according to the president. “She really did love the family, but I also remember her saying very clearly, ‘Charles, look young Charles, he’s so cute,'” Trump added.

He joked, “My mother had a crush on Charles. Can you believe it? I wonder what she’s thinking right now.”

People had questions about this claim.

As a clip of Trump making these remarks circulating on social media, a lot of people were all pointing out the same thing: Mary Anne was quite a bit older than Charles. After all, King Charles, who is currently 77, is actually even younger than President Trump. So, to some, the idea of Mary Anne having “a crush” on Charles felt creepy and predatory.

On Reddit, one critic pointed out that Trump’s joke sounds “even more awkward when you realize King Charles is a couple years younger than Trump.” In response, someone else joked that it “runs in the family!” But, to be fair, we don’t know that his mom actually would’ve described it as a “crush.”

Critics also thought King Charles looked pretty uncomfortable as Trump told this story. “Charles’ expression ( or his fight to control it) was hysterical at times,” one critic commented on X. And someone else said, “I watched the speech. Not only was it completely incoherent but Charles went from looking bored to downright uncomfortable throughout it.”

In spite of these observations, body language expert Darren Stanton claimed that Charles “has a very good sense of humor” and did not appear to mind Trump’s comments, per Unilad.

It still seemed kind of embarrassing to some people.

“It’s pretty weird, don’t you think?” another Redditor noted. “First, it’s weird (to be charitable) for someone to have a crush on someone two years younger than their own child. And it’s also weird for the person to say that, on TV, to a King.”

Many agreed that Trump’s comment about his mom was cringeworthy, with one critic writing, “What a thing to say in front of the world media.”

But others argued it might be one of the least disturbing things Trump has said recently. According to some Trump critics, there’s so much to criticize him for, but this particular moment felt fairly lighthearted and trivial compared to other things he’s said and done. One critic even argued, “This is probably the least bizarre thing Trump has ever said.” The bar is low, clearly.

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Paige Sheffield (she/her)