Donald Trump has launched a deeply personal attack on Keir Starmer for his refusal to allow the US to launch initial strikes against Iran from British bases, telling reporters: “We are not dealing with Winston Churchill.”
In his latest extraordinary attack, the US president said he was unhappy with the UK, although the prime minister eventually accepted that the US could use Diego Garcia to attack Iranian missile facilities.
It was the third time in 24 hours that Trump criticized Starmer over the UK’s refusal to help in the initial attacks, underscoring his frustration with Western allies for not unequivocally backing the action.
He told the Sun on Monday that “the relationship is obviously not what it was” as a result of the decision, and in an interview with the Telegraph said Starmer had taken too long to allow the US to use bases in the UK.
Starmer has previously been praised for his ability to maintain a relationship with the volatile US president, but on Monday in the House of Commons he expressed doubts about US action in Tehran and its legality.
He issued his strongest rebuke yet, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the sky” and defended his decision not to allow the use of British bases to carry out the attacks.
But he said the UK would allow the use of Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford for defensive actions to protect British citizens and forces, as well as allied countries in the Middle East that have been hit by a wave of retaliatory strikes from Iran following attacks by the United States and Israel.
“President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial attacks, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I have done and I stand by it,” Starmer said Monday.
The chairwoman of the influential foreign affairs committee, Emily Thornberry, said of the US president’s latest comments: “I can’t help but wonder what Churchill would have thought of Trump. He is certainly no Franklin D. Roosevelt.”
European countries have struggled to find a united position on rapidly developing events in the Middle East. Trump threatened on Tuesday to cut off all trade with Spain after Madrid banned the United States from using bases on its territory to carry out attacks against Iran.
Sitting next to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said the United Kingdom had been “very, very uncooperative with that stupid island of theirs,” in an apparent reference to Diego Garcia.
He also criticized Spain for its lack of cooperation, saying it had been “terrible” and then added: “I’m not happy with the UK either. That island you read about… It took us three or four days to work out where we can land.
“It would have been much more comfortable to land there than to fly many more hours. We are very surprised. We are not dealing with Winston Churchill.”
Trump had previously compared Starmer’s position unfavorably to France’s support for the attacks and the backing of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. “It hasn’t been helpful. I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK,” he told the Sun.
“It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a very different type of relationship than we’ve had with your country before. It’s very sad to see that relationship obviously not what it was.”
Trump said Starmer also needed to change course on the Chagos Islands deal, which the United States had previously supported, as well as North Sea oil and gas exploration and immigration.
“Prevent people from coming from foreign lands who hate you,” he said. Asked if Starmer was trying to court Muslim voters, Trump said that could be the case. He has also falsely claimed that there are sharia courts in London.
The Prime Minister’s Chief Secretary Darren Jones said: “The UK will act in the interests of British citizens, regardless of their faith or where they are in the UK.
“I think the public would rightly say they don’t want to be involved in a wider war in the Middle East, but they would expect us to do everything we could to defend British citizens.”
A YouGov poll shows that 49% of Britons oppose US attacks on Iran, compared to 28% who support them. It also reveals that 32% support the US using RAF bases to launch attacks as long as the targets are limited to missile sites, while 50% are opposed.
