President Trump used a GB News interview to sharpen his criticism of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, saying he would "never speak to them again" if he were King Charles, a pointed rebuke that landed days after the couple's return to Britain with their two children.
Trump told host Bev Turner on August 31 that Harry's tell-all book was "very terrible to William" and called Meghan "a horrible influence" on her husband. He praised King Charles as "a fantastic guy" and "a much better person than I am" for welcoming the couple back, then made clear he would not have done the same.
The interview came roughly 24 hours after Trump first weighed in on the Sussexes' surprise relocation, telling reporters he was "not a fan" and accusing the Duchess of treating the Royal Family "with great disrespect." The GB News sit-down took the remarks further, with Trump offering a blunt, personal verdict on a family drama that has played out across two continents for six years.
The president left little ambiguity about where he assigns blame. Trump told GB News:
"First of all, I think King Charles is fantastic, he's a friend of mine. He [Prince Harry] wrote a book that was so bad, and she was a horrible influence on him. What she's done to him is unacceptable."
He expanded the point moments later, zeroing in on the damage he said Harry's memoir inflicted on the relationship between the two brothers.
"But I think that what she [Meghan] has done and him [Prince Harry], he wrote a book that was very terrible to William, it was terrible. The things he said, I wouldn't... I mean, it's just me. I'm sure I'm wrong on this, but I would not have taken him back. I would have never spoken to him again."
Trump also referenced his own earlier comments to reporters, in which he said he "thought she was terribly disrespectful to the Queen, to [King] Charles." The late Queen Elizabeth II, Trump has said previously, had an "incredible" relationship with him.
When Turner suggested that Trump's own children "probably wouldn't have done what Harry did to his father," the president responded with a quick laugh: "Well, I hope not!"
Even as he criticized Harry and Meghan, Trump went out of his way to compliment the King. He described Charles as "amazing" and noted his courage in continuing public duties while dealing with what Trump called "a very tough situation with his health."
"It shows you what a good man King Charles is. He's a much better person than I am. I wouldn't have done it. I would have said forget it."
Trump reminded viewers of the King's recent visit to the United States, during which Charles spoke before Congress and attended a White House state dinner in April, the first of Trump's second term, held to mark the nation's 250th birthday. At that dinner, Charles joked that the evening was a "very considerable improvement on the Boston Tea Party" and quipped about Britain's "own small attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814."
The warmth between Trump and the British monarch stood in sharp contrast to the president's tone toward Harry and Meghan. Trump has spoken favorably of Charles on multiple occasions, describing him as a longtime friend he knew first as a prince.
Harry, Meghan, and their two children, seven-year-old Archie and five-year-old Lilibet, flew into the United Kingdom on August 26. Both children were reportedly set to begin school in Britain that same week, a detail that signals the move is more than a visit.
The couple had informed King Charles of their plans roughly a month earlier. They stepped back from senior royal duties about six years ago in what the British press dubbed "Megxit," relocating to Montecito, California. They also own a vacation property in Portugal and reportedly plan to keep both residences.
An unnamed source described "an increasing and significant shift in sentiment, a feeling the American dream might not be all it was cracked up to be." People magazine had earlier reported that concerns about the direction of the United States were "top-of-mind" for the Sussexes ahead of the November midterm elections.
The family is said to be eyeing a home in the Cotswolds, the picturesque rural region in central England. Mixed reactions have greeted the couple's return, with some welcoming the reconciliation and others questioning its sincerity.
Trump was not alone in his pointed reaction. Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, shared a report about the Sussexes' move on social media and wrote: "They are moving back to Britain because they don't like President Trump."
Conservative personality Megyn Kelly weighed in on X as well, responding to a post by right-wing commentator Dan Wootton about Megxit being "reversed." Kelly wrote: "We've done our time here in America my dear friend!"
Alex Rayner, a friend of Harry's who joined him on a charity trek to the North Pole in 2011 and remains in regular contact, offered a different perspective. Rayner told the Daily Mail that the prince's feelings about his home country never changed.
"What is absolutely crucial is that Harry never fell out of love with Britain, he fell out of love with the circumstances he found himself living in, and those are very different things."
An unnamed friend of the couple pushed back on the idea that the move was Harry's decision alone, saying Meghan "is all for rekindling with and reconnecting with Harry's English side. She is fully behind it." The couple's flight to the UK with their children was covered widely, with reports noting they covered their own security costs.
The logistics of the Sussexes' transatlantic life remain murky. They plan to hold onto their Montecito estate, though reports have surfaced about the staggering annual costs of maintaining the California property. They also intend to keep their Portugal vacation home.
How the couple will finance their resettlement in Britain has drawn scrutiny as well. A hedge fund billionaire has reportedly played a role in bankrolling aspects of the return, adding another layer to a story that already mixes royal family drama with questions about money, motive, and loyalty.
Whether the move back to Britain represents a genuine family reconciliation or a strategic retreat from a country whose politics have shifted remains an open question. Turner noted during the interview that there appears to be "no relationship" between Harry and his brother William, even as King Charles has extended what she described as "an olive branch" to his younger son and daughter-in-law.
Trump, for his part, did not hedge. He said plainly that if he were in Charles's position, he would not have taken the couple back. "There's too much," he said.
Six years of public grievance, a tell-all memoir, and a transatlantic blame game, and now the couple wants back in. King Charles may have the grace to forgive. Whether the British public shares that generosity is another matter entirely.
