US President Donald Trump told the BBC on Thursday that British King Charles’ coming state visit to the United States could “absolutely” help rebuild strained ties between the two countries.

Charles heads to the US on Monday for a four-day trip, with transatlantic tensions over the Iran war and scandals linked to the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatening to intrude on the landmark visit.

Asked by the BBC whether Charles’s visit could help repair the relationship between the US and UK, Trump told the BBC: “Absolutely. He’s fantastic. He’s a fantastic man. Absolutely the answer is yes.”

Charles will be making his first state visit to the US as a monarch, at the request of the UK government and Trump.

He will travel to the US with Queen Camilla and then visit Bermuda alone.

Trump has harshly criticised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not joining the US-Israeli war on Iran, launched on February 28.