Reality behind 'disrespectful gesture' Donald Trump made to Camilla during state visit

Donald Trump has been criticised for making a 'disrespectful gesture' to Camilla during the state visit to the US, though it may have all been part of the plan.

As part of the official welcome for King Charles to the US there was a formal ceremony on the White House lawn with a long list of officials lined up and preparing to receive handshakes.

Of course the first hand Charles had grasped on arriving for the state visit was that of the US president, who attempted to deploy his signature power move of pulling the person whose hand he was shaking towards him with a sudden jerk.

However, Charles joins the list of world leaders who've grown wise to Trump's tricks as it looked like he resisted several tugs on his hand and wouldn't be budged.

Later on when shaking hands with officials Trump was heavily criticised for appearing to cut in front of Camilla and shaking hands with people ahead of her in the line as people accused him of being 'disrespectful', but that may all have been part of proceedings.

Trump is so disrespectful. He literally cut in front of Queen Camilla while she was shaking hands.

Every day is another embarrassment for our country. pic.twitter.com/F5PpHQ69bx

— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) April 29, 2026

There's plenty to criticise Trump for in terms of his behaviour, and a lip reader says the King had to tell him off within moments of meeting, but despite the reaction online to the moment this may not be one of them.

If you watch full footage of it you can see Charles making his way down the line of US officials and shaking each hand in turn before reaching UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and putting his hands up jokingly and then peeling away from the line.

Camilla is behind him still making her way through shaking hands with Trump's cabinet when the US president swoops in ahead of her for a spot of diplomatic gladhanding, but he starts with Cooper and shakes hands with the British officials.

Charles extends his hands a couple of times for what looks like a handshake but he's standing too far away from the line for that, so he's more likely introducing the US president to the UK team who are along for the state visit.

What looks like an awkward moment of Trump yet again barging in is actually more according to plan than it first appears.

Trump has a track record for breaking protocol and the ability to make many interactions look deeply awkward, but in this case he may have just looked disrespectful rather than actually been so.

Elsewhere in the state visit Trump did more of the arm touching he's fond of when he tries to guide people around, which is a bit of a breach of royal protocol but not something the royals made a big fuss over at the time.

The US president also made a joke about the length of his marriage to Melania and also quipped that his late mother 'had a crush on Charles', which is perhaps an odd thing to say about your mum when you're referring to a man a couple of years younger than yourself.

Meanwhile, Charles made a speech to Congress where he praised NATO, which has become one of Trump's regular punching bags, and spoke about the importance of defending Ukraine from Russia.