Trump calls Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's decision to step back from the royal family 'sad' and says he 'doesn't think this should be happening' to the Queen

• President Donald Trump expressed support for Queen Elizabeth and criticized Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to step back from the royal family against the Queen's wishes.
• "I think it's sad," Trump said during a Fox interview. "I just have such respect for the Queen. I don't think this should be happening to her."
• The Queen reportedly asked her grandson not to announce that he and Markle would step back from royal life, and the royal family was reportedly disappointed by the move.
• Last June, Trump called Markle "nasty" when he learned that she'd threatened to move to Canada if Trump won the 2016 election.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump expressed support for Queen Elizabeth and criticized Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's recent announcement that they intend to "step back" from the royal family against the Queen's wishes.

"I think it's sad," Trump said. "[The Queen] is a great woman. She's never made a mistake ... She's had like a flawless time."

"I don't want to get into the whole thing, but I just have such respect for the Queen," he added. "I don't think this should be happening to her."

This isn't the first time Trump has been critical of the Duchess of Sussex. Last June, he called Markle "nasty" when he learned that she'd threatened to move to Canada in 2016 if Trump won the election.

He attempted to clean up his comments in an interview a few days later, calling Markle "nice" and excusing her comments about him.

"She was nasty to me. And that's OK for her to be nasty," he said. "It's not good for me to be nasty to her and I wasn't."

In an official statement shared on their website and social media accounts, Harry and Markle wrote that they intend to split their time between the UK and North America while becoming financially independent from the royal family. They said they'd continue to support the Queen.

The BBC reported that the royal family was not told Harry and Markle would make their announcement on Wednesday and was "disappointed." The Queen reportedly asked her grandson not to announce that he and Markle would step back from royal life, according to CNN.

This comes after months of speculation that Harry and Markle's relationships with the rest of the royal family had grown increasingly tense.

Hillary Hoffower and Samantha Grindell contributed reporting.