President Donald Trump has finally weighed in on Prince Harry and Meghan Sussex’s return to Britain, and unsurprisingly, he turned somebody else’s family decision into another opportunity to tell the world who he does and does not like.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “happy” the Sussexes had left the United States and declared that he was “not a fan.” He accused Harry and Meghan of treating the Royal Family with “great disrespect,” singled Meghan out as “terribly disrespectful” to Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles, and said that if he were a member of the Royal Family, he would not have welcomed them back.  

Harry and Meghan Sussex returned to Britain in August after six years based primarily in California. Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet are expected to attend school in the UK, while the family lives privately outside London. None of that represents a return to royal duty. Harry and Meghan remain non-working members of the Royal Family and have not asked to resume their former roles.

That makes Trump’s intervention all the more peculiar. His dislike of the Sussexes is hardly new. What deserves more scrutiny is why reporters continue asking the President of the United States for his personal verdict on a couple whose family arrangements have virtually nothing to do with his job.

Trump has never been subtle about whom he admires. He tends to respond warmly to people who flatter him, praise him or treat him with the grandeur he believes the presidency deserves. His personal approval is therefore a curious standard by which to judge anyone else’s character.

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Kate Middleton raises a toast to President Donald Trump during the State Banquet at Windsor Castle on September 17, 2025.

More importantly, there are considerably more consequential questions journalists could put to him. Trump continues to face scrutiny over the handling and disclosure of records connected to Jeffrey Epstein, a man with whom he once was friends with. He also carries an extraordinary legal record for a sitting president, including his criminal conviction on 34 felony counts and a civil jury finding that he sexually abused E. Jean Carroll. Against that background, whether Donald Trump believes the Royal Family should have “taken back” Harry and Meghan feels almost absurdly trivial.

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Donald Trump, Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pose together at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in February 2000.

And perhaps Trump’s declaration that he is “not a fan” is less damaging to Harry and Meghan than he imagines. There are public figures whose endorsement might strengthen your reputation. Trump, with his criminal history and long record of racist, misogynistic and transphobic rhetoric, is not necessarily one of them.

So thank you, Mr President, for clearing that up. At a time when renewed attention is falling on the Epstein files and the powerful people who moved within that world, Harry and Meghan probably will not lose much sleep over Donald Trump publicly assuring everyone that they are not members of his fan club.

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