Queen Elizabeth II privately questioned Donald Trump's rise and expressed misgivings about Brexit during a 2016 meeting with then-former President Barack Obama, according to a passage in a new book by journalist Susan Page and comments from palace sources.

As per Style Caster, in "The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History", Page quotes Obama saying the queen expressed her real views to Obama and asked, "Why is this person so close to running your country?" The passage says Elizabeth was puzzled by Trump's prominence and that her impressions were shaped in part by early actions and statements from his presidency.

Page writes that the queen observed public attacks by Trump on political figures and institutions she valued, including criticism of former President George W. Bush and public rebukes of a British prime minister. The author also cites Trump's 2018 reported description of some African nations with a vulgar slur as a source of offense to a sovereign who had long cultivated ties across the Commonwealth.

The book recounts that during the Windsor Castle conversation, Elizabeth also voiced concern about the United Kingdom's decision to hold a referendum on European Union membership. Obama said it was the first time the queen had directly commented on British domestic politics to him, adding that she questioned why a constitutional decision of such weight had been left to a public plebiscite.

Royal insiders quoted by media outlets earlier this month said the queen viewed Brexit as a threat to constitutional stability and national unity and felt constrained from publicly intervening. "Elizabeth believed the referendum opened the door to uncertainty and division on a scale Britain had not experienced for decades," one source told Radar Online in May 2026.

The book examines the queen's private interactions with 13 U.S. presidents and draws on interviews with former White House officials. Page, a longtime Washington correspondent, includes Obama's recollections gathered while reporting the book.

Representatives for the royal household did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The White House declined to comment on private conversations recounted in a book.

Scholars of the monarchy note that sovereigns traditionally refrain from public political commentary, making private opinions — when revealed by memoirs or biographies — a rare window into how the institution viewed consequential global events. Page's book adds to a body of work exploring the queen's influence and relationships with American leaders over decades.

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Queen elizabeth, Donald trump, Barack Obama