Former President Trump responded to news that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has passed, leaving her son Prince Charles to take the throne as King Charles III.
“Queen Elizabeth’s historic and remarkable reign left a tremendous legacy of peace and prosperity for Great Britain. Her leadership and enduring diplomacy secured and advanced alliances with the United States and countries around the world,” Trump said in a statement from his website 45office.com.
The former president shared condolences on behalf of himself and former first lady Melania Trump.
“Melania and I will always cherish our time together with the Queen, and never forget Her Majesty’s generous friendship, great wisdom, and wonderful sense of humor. What a grand and beautiful lady she was—there was nobody like her!”
Trump said during his presidency that he was a “tremendous fan” of Queen Elizabeth, telling British newspaper The Sun that “she has really never made a mistake.”
After a state visit to the United Kingdom in 2019, Trump famously said the monarch had more fun with him during the trip than she’d had in 25 years. He was the 12th sitting U.S. president welcomed at Buckingham Palace by the late queen.
“May God bless the Queen, may she reign forever in our hearts, and may God hold her and Prince Philip in abiding care,” Trump concluded in his Thursday statement.