President Donald Trump took a swipe at Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan this week.
It was not the first time.
In his latest jab, Trump said he was "happy" Harry and Meghan had left the U.S., telling reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Sept. 2, that he believed the couple had "treated the royal family with great disrespect."
Taking aim at Meghan, the 80-year-old president said he "didn't like the way she acted. I thought she was terribly disrespectful to the queen, to King Charles."
The Sussexes and their two children Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, moved back to Britain last week after spending six years in California amid an ongoing rift in the royal family. They will not be returning to their roles as working royals.
"Maybe I'm
different," Trump said. "I wouldn't have taken him back. If I were the royal family, I would not have taken him back."
While Trump has often heaped praise on members of the royal family including King Charles III and Queen Camilla, he has been open about his dislike for the Sussexes, who have also made their feelings towards the president pretty clear.
Revisit the long-running animosity.
What have Meghan and Harry said about Trump?
Before she married Prince Harry and became part of Britain's royal family, the "Suits" actress branded Trump "divisive" and "misogynistic" in an interview during the 2016 presidential race.
"Trump has made it easy to see that you don’t really want that kind of world that he's painting," she told Larry Wilmore on the "Nightly Show" as she indicated she would be voting for Trump's rival Hillary Clinton.
In 2020, the duchess starred as a surprise guest on Michelle Obama's "When All Women Vote" virtual event and appeared to make a veiled dig at Trump, telling watchers, "We all know what's at stake this year."
“If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem," she said as she implored others to vote. Though she did not reference Trump by name. "If you are complacent, you are complicit."
Traditionally, members of the royal family do not vote, and the reigning monarch is politically neutral. Meghan's comments sparked some, including Piers Morgan, to call for her duchess title to be removed. While voting as a royal, would have been frowned upon, Meghan would have been able to do so legally and freely as a U.S. citizen. Husband Harry, however would not have been able to vote in the U.S. election as he is not a U.S. citizen.
While Prince Harry did not reference Trump by name, he appeared to hit out at the president earlier this year after Trump was widely condemned for claiming NATO allies "stayed a little back" from the front line in Afghanistan.
Harry, who served in the British military for a decade and underwent two tours in Afghanistan, hit out at Trump's comments. The prince said "sacrifices" made by NATO troops "deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect."
What has Trump said about Meghan and Harry?
Three years after Meghan called him "divisive," Trump was asked about her remarks.
"I didn't know she was nasty," he told The Sun, though he later took to X to deny he had said that about the duchess.
"I never called Meghan Markle 'nasty.' Made up by the Fake News Media," Trump wrote on X, before The Sun posted audio of his remarks.
In 2020, after the Sussexes announced their decision to step back as senior royals and leave Britain, Trump made it clear he would not be footing the bill for their security amid reports they had left Canada for the U.S.
The pair lost their British taxpayer funded protectionwhen they stepped away from the royal spotlight.
"The U.S. will not pay for their security protection. They must pay!" Trump tweeted in March 2020.
A spokesperson for the couple said at the time that the duke and duchess "have no plans to ask the US government for security resources" and that "privately funded security arrangements" had been made.
In 2021, Trump once again expressed disdain for the duchess.
"I'm not a fan of hers. I wasn't from day one," Trump told Nigel Farage during a GBNews interview. "I think she's very disrespectful to the queen," Trump said, describing the then reigning monarch as "a great woman." Queen Elizabeth II died the following year in September 2022.
"I think Harry has been used terribly and it has ruined his relationship with his family," Trump said in his sit down with Farage, while also claiming the duchess was "trying to do things that I think are very inappropriate."
In 2025, when asked if he would consider deporting Harry after he openly admitted to taking drugs in his memoir, "Spare," Trump replied, "I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's simmering feud escalates with Prince Harry, Duchess Meghan
