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Rod Stewart tells King Charles he put Donald Trump “in his place” at King’s Trust event
Rod Stewart praised King Charles for his Trump meeting, calling the president “that little ratbag” during a King’s Trust event in London.
Rod Stewart used a rare public moment with King Charles to praise the monarch for his recent meeting with Donald Trump, telling him he had put the American president “in his place.”
The exchange took place in London on Monday May 11, at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the King’s Trust, formerly the Prince’s Trust. Stewart, speaking to Charles in front of guests, singled out the King’s recent US trip and summit with Trump. “You were superb. Absolutely superb. You put that little ratbag in his place,” he said, prompting what appeared to be a laugh from the monarch.
Charles had met Trump during a four-day visit to the US last month, where he discussed the “indispensable alliance” between Britain and the States, urged continued American support for Ukraine, and emphasised the importance of NATO. At the state banquet, he also joked that America might be “speaking French” without the British, a line that landed as one of the more theatrical moments in an otherwise weighty diplomatic visit.
Stewart’s comments were not exactly out of character. Only months earlier, he had taken aim at Trump after the president repeated false claims about British troops in Afghanistan, calling on Keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to push him into apologising. Trump had questioned whether NATO allies would come to America’s defence and suggested some countries had avoided front-line service in Afghanistan.
“It hurts me badly, deeply, when I read that draft dodger Trump has criticised our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front line,” Stewart said in a video posted to social media. He then pointed to the scale of the British losses in the conflict, noting that 457 UK service personnel were killed. “We lost over 400 of our guys… Think of their parents. Think about it. And Trump calls them almost like cowards. It’s unbearable,” he added.
His criticism of Trump has also played out in more personal terms. Stewart has previously said the two were once close, with Trump as a former neighbour, but described that relationship as effectively over once he entered the White House. “Since he became President, he became another guy. Somebody I didn’t know,” Stewart said.
That distance has only hardened as Trump’s role in Israel’s war in Gaza has become a point of contention for the singer. “No, I can’t anymore. As long as he’s selling arms to the Israelis — and he still is. How’s that war ever gonna stop?” Stewart said, making plain that any rekindling of their relationship was off the table.
In March 2025, Stewart also weighed in after Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tense White House press conference, backing Ukraine and stressing that “we must keep supporting the Ukrainians.” The exchange between the US and Ukrainian presidents had quickly unravelled into a combative spat, with Trump accusing Zelenskyy of being “not ready for peace” and “gambling with World War Three.”
