JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
One person in the ballroom at the White House Correspondents' Dinner was British ambassador to the U.S., Christian Turner.
CHRISTIAN TURNER: I've served in war zones and in other places around the world where I've needed close protection. And what I saw on Saturday night was the professionals doing their job - an incredibly swift response from the Secret Service. They made everyone safe.
SUMMERS: We'd actually lined up a conversation with Ambassador Turner today on a different subject. Today, King Charles arrived in the U.S. for a four-day trip, which includes a state banquet and an address to Congress. He's only the second British monarch to speak to the U.S. legislature. King Charles is, of course, the head of state but not the head of government in the United Kingdom. The head of government is Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who President Donald Trump has disparaged lately.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.
SUMMERS: Prime Minister Winston Churchill coined the term special relationship to describe the link between the U.S. and the U.K. That was 80 years ago, and Christian Turner pointed out that the two countries now share over a trillion dollars in mutual investment and hundreds of billions of dollars in trade. But lately, President Trump has lambasted the U.K. for not doing more to help in the U.S.-Israel war with Iran. Add to that disagreements over the fate of Greenland and the proper role of tariffs, and polling in the U.K. now shows that most Britons do not support King Charles' visit. So we asked Ambassador Turner about what he's doing to patch up the special relationship.
TURNER: There's, I think, a bit of a cliche that diplomats like me - we're all about nice receptions and parties and the sort of glamor of the job. Actually, we're about getting stuff done. The hardwiring between two countries still revolves around negotiation, around delivery. And across those areas, that's what I would like to look back and say I achieved in my time as ambassador.
SUMMERS: I want to turn, if we can, to the conflict in the Middle East. President Trump was unhappy with the U.K. and other NATO allies who declined to assist, at least initially, in the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran. And Prime Minister Keir Starmer, of course, has been very clear that he will not permit your country to be dragged into the war. Is there a way the longstanding relationship can help bridge that fundamental disagreement?
TURNER: Well, I'm not sure I would quite frame it in the way you have as a fundamental disagreement. I mean, first and foremost, I should explain that I was the chief negotiator for the U.K. with...
SUMMERS: Right.
TURNER: ...Iran over the last three years. It's a file I know well. We are absolutely shared in our resolve that Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon. So that sense of shared resolve is absolutely there. There was a clear disagreement between the two governments before the start of the conflict about the preemptive action. But the moment the war started, actually, the U.K. has been doing quite a lot. We granted on the second day use of our airbases...
SUMMERS: Right.
TURNER: ...For defensive purposes. So U.S. bombers have been flying out of U.K. bases in East Anglia every night, halving their bombing run times. We have also been flying jets in the Middle East defensively. We now have more sorties flown than at any point in the last 15 years, shooting down drones and missiles every night. And of course, our deep intelligence base, which we don't talk about much, rightly, is absolutely foundational to the way this conflict is being run.
SUMMERS: I want to ask you about the use of those military bases, though. You've said that they're only for defensive operations, but how can you monitor that limit?
TURNER: Well, that comes down to detailed collaboration between our two militaries. I mean, they have a detailed conversation about target sets. So if a threat is coming at us, we can then take action against it. So that has been working very well, I should say, since the very start of this conflict.
SUMMERS: As we mentioned, President Trump has said that Prime Minister Starmer is no Winston Churchill. He's openly mocked him with impersonation. How do you see it? Do you see that as just Trump being Trump, insulting people tactically? Or does that demand that you stand up to it?
TURNER: Well, look, I don't take that as a binary. The president - I mean, his extraordinary genius for political communication is why he is where he is. And if you look at this relationship, we've had many moments through the arc of the last 100 years and before where we have had disagreements as two countries - with Vietnam, when President Johnson and Prime Minister Wilson disagreed. I could talk about Suez. I could actually talk of Thatcher and Reagan over Granada. So these sorts of tensions, they're not unusual for us to be dealing with. And the key is to remember that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.
SUMMERS: Before we get off foreign policy, I do want to ask you, because you've been on the other side of negotiation with Iran, what advice would you have for the U.S. administration here?
TURNER: So look, in a sense, they have a lot of technical expertise, so I'm not worried that they aren't across the detail of what they need to do. But the Iranians are extraordinarily difficult negotiators, and they believe in their ability to take pain. So keeping up pressure, as the president is doing with the blockade, but also being very clear on what your possible off-ramps are, that's what's going to be needed. And it's going to take a lot of persistence, I think, and a real focus to get this to the place that we all want it to be.
SUMMERS: As we mentioned, King Charles is making his first state visit here to Washington, D.C., as king this week. President Trump calls the king a friend. He told the BBC last week that this visit could help repair relations between the two countries. Given that King Charles is not the head of government, do you have any insight as to how this repair might work?
TURNER: The real point is that so much diplomacy and politics actually is personal, and it's exactly because he's not there to speak to the policies of the British government, it allows us to tell that people-to-people story. And actually, in the middle of this, it's really quite a personal relationship. If you look at the president's affection for the U.K., which is well documented...
SUMMERS: Right.
TURNER: ...His affection for her late majesty, the queen, his ties in his own family, back to Scotland, you know, these things are really quite deep, and they're quite personal. And I know that the warmth of that hospitality will be really felt by their majesties in the next few days.
SUMMERS: I do want to ask you about your role, given that your predecessor, Peter Mandelson, is now under investigation around leaking U.K. government secrets to Jeffrey Epstein. I don't have to tell you this, but for U.S. audiences, on your side of the pond, this was massive news that might still cost Prime Minister Starmer his job. How is the U.K. government handling this scandal?
TURNER: Well, look, I'm a career diplomat, which means I've served governments of all stripes.
SUMMERS: Yeah.
TURNER: So actually, I'm sort of apolitical, which is the norm in our system, rather than appointing political appointees to these sorts of jobs. So that really is where I am focused. I first served here nearly 25 years ago, as a young diplomat. I got married while I was here. Both my kids were born here. So in many ways, for me, it's like coming home, frankly. And to have this historic and momentous visit so early in my tenure is a wonderful thing to be a part of.
SUMMERS: That was Christian Turner, the British ambassador to the United States. Thank you so much.
TURNER: Thank you. Great questions. Always happy to talk.
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