King Charles delighted his White House audience last night with a cheeky toast as he was hosted by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at a dazzling state dinner.

The event marked the first state dinner of the President’s second term – and was to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday.

Both Mr Trump and the King made comments about their countries’ shared backstories, with Charles calling the fete a ‘very considerable improvement on the Boston Tea Party’.

The King also called attention to the President’s ‘readjustments’ to the East Wing, which is no longer standing.

‘I’m sorry to say that we British, of course, made our own small attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814,’ the King joked.

He also noted how the President recently said, ‘that if it were not for the United States, European countries would be speaking German’.

‘Dare I say it, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be speaking French,’ Charles said, cracking up the President and his guests.

The King then unveiled an extraordinarily personal gift for the President during his toast – a large gold bell that hung from the conning tower of HMS Trump, a Royal Navy submarine that fought in the Battle of the Pacific in the Second World War.

‘May it stand as a testament to our nations’ shared history and shining future,’ the King said of the gift. ‘And should you ever need to get hold of us, well, just give us a ring,’ the monarch quipped.

The gift echoed one from Queen Elizabeth II of the bicentennial Liberty Bell on her visit to the US in 1976.

Despite some clear policy differences expressed by the King in his speech to Congress earlier in the day, Mr Trump kicked off the dinner by complimenting it.

‘He made a great speech,’ Mr Trump said during a brief welcome ceremony on the South Lawn. ‘I was very jealous.’

Later, during his toast, the President explained what he meant.

‘I want to congratulate Charles on having made a fantastic speech today at Congress,’ Mr Trump said. ‘He got the Democrats to stand. I’ve never been able to do that.’

However, Mr Trump risked embarrassing the King as he apparently revealed his private views on Iran and nuclear weapons.

In a fulsome and highly complimentary speech at the White House state dinner in Washington, Mr Trump suddenly appeared to veer off course and refer to the conflict.

Raising the issue of historic war in the Middle East he said: ‘We’re doing a little work in the Middle East right now. And we’re doing very well.

‘We have militarily defeated that particular opponent and we are never going to let that opponent ever… Charles agrees with me, even more than I do… we will never let that opponent have a nuclear weapon. They know that.’

The President’s words were greeted with cheers, but there was no immediate reaction from Buckingham Palace.

Last night’s dinner was meant to resemble an English garden, with both the Queen and First Lady sporting spring colors.

The First Lady chose to wear a pale delphinium pink silk strapless gown by Christian Dior Haute Couture, with off-white Dior suede gloves and matching Dior pale delphinium silk pumps.

Queen Camilla wore a deep pink gown by Fiona Clare with an amethyst and diamond necklace, which was gifted by a former Duchess of Kent to Queen Victoria and then passed to Queen Mary.

Guests included New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and departing Apple CEO Tim Cook, who were spotted by the Daily Mail arriving at the White House complex.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were also in attendance – with Sanchez wearing a plunging black ballgown.

And OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who is currently in a court battle with former Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk, was also photographed walking through White House security.

Golfing great Rory McIlroy was invited, as well as conservative media personalities: Ainsley Earhardt, Laura Ingraham, Chris Ruddy, Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld.

During his toast, Mr Trump hailed McIlroy, saying his Masters Tournament back-to-back wins were ‘unconquerable.’

CEO of Paramount Skydance, David Ellison, was also invited.

All three of Mr Trump’s Supreme Court appointees made the guest list – Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – along with fellow conservative Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

The President has complained that some of his Supreme Court appointees haven’t been sufficiently loyal when they knocked down his tariffs in a decision in February.

Trump family members who were invited included Eric Trump and wife Lara, Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner, and Tiffany Trump with her husband Michael Boulos.

Ivanka Trump, who worked for her father during his first administration but has mainly stayed away from Washington this time around, wore a flowing baby blue Reem Acra gown.

Melania’s father, Viktor Knavs, was also invited.

Attendees were treated to a four-course meal starting with hearts of palm salad, served with a garden herb veloute, crisp toasted shallots and a ‘whisper’ of micro mint, the White House said.

After that, spring herb ravioli, featuring herbs from the White House Kitchen Garden – planted by First Lady Michelle Obama – was served, filled with creamy ricotta, earthy morels and dressed with a light parmesan emulsion.

The main course was fish – Dover sole meuniere, prepared in nutty brown butter and served with spring ramps, sweet snow peas over potatoes pavé and finished with parsley oil.

For dessert, the White House chose to showcase the on-campus beehive that the King and Queen visited on Monday, serving guests a beehive-shaped chocolate gateau with vanilla bean cremeux custard, set inside an almond joconde.

The cake was served with creme fraiche ice cream and the White House’s honey.

Mr Trump only held two state dinners during his first term, with a third state dinner announced and then cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since at least 2010, he’s pitched the idea of building a White House ballroom, criticizing the tents Michelle Obama used to host her state dinners when she wanted to invite more guests than the East Room could hold.

Mr Trump refused to use a tent during his first term, instead opting to hold his state dinners in the State Dining Room and then outdoors in the Rose Garden.

Last night’s dinner was in the East Room.

The First Lady’s office said the decor was ‘inspired by the beauty of English gardens.’

Melania had the East Room decorated with trees and blossoming garden boxes filled with lilac.

Tables were dressed with green pleated linens and decorated with lilac, butterfly ranunculus, phlox and lily of the valley.

Both the Clinton and Bush china were used in the table settings.