Half-truths and no truths: Trump’s latest claims on the UK factchecked | Donald Trump
Donald Trump has spoken out again about the United Kingdom, saying on Tuesday that Keir Starmer was “not Winston Churchill” and reiterating his complaint about the agreement to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Here are some recent comments from the US president on Britain’s problems and how they compare to reality.
“I will say that the UK has been very, very uncooperative with this stupid island that they own and have given away and taken out on a 100 year lease; perhaps it has to do with indigenous peoples claiming the island when they have never seen it before. What is it about?
The US president has changed his mind numerous times on this issue, and it has been difficult to keep up. It was a good deal, then a bad one. Now that this has caused some minor inconvenience to his plans to attack Iran, he has lashed out – again. There is some slightly distorted truth in what he said: the Chagos Islands deal effectively gives sovereignty to Mauritius in exchange for a lease over Diego Garcia, the island used for a major Anglo-American air base, although it is for 99 years instead of 100.
The part about “Natives” is more off-piste. The people of the Chagos Islands have been in exile since Diego Garcia was forcibly removed more than 50 years ago to make way for the base. But the agreement is the result of fears that failure to secure Diego Garcia’s future with Mauritius could leave the archipelago vulnerable to incursions by China or others.
“They have windmills everywhere that are destroying the country, destroying the landscapes. Open the North Sea.
The comment, also dated Tuesday, is Trump’s latest regarding wind farms, which he continues to refer to as wind turbines. Like Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, it argues that sustainable energy sources such as wind power destroy the landscape and, unlike fossil fuels, are neither efficient nor reliable.
The aesthetics of wind turbines is a subjective matter, but Starmer and his ministers would disagree on their use. The UK government is prioritizing green energy sources to ensure reliable energy without being at the mercy of global fluctuations in oil and gas prices. There is also no evidence that increased drilling in the North Sea would have a significant impact on world prices.
“Your energy prices are going through the roof. »
Also starting this week. Trump has previously said that the prices the British pay for energy are the highest in the world.
Once again, this boasting hides some truth. When it comes to commercial and domestic electricity supplies, UK users pay higher tariffs than almost any other comparable country.
However, this is largely explained by the dependence of UK electricity prices on gas. Electricity produced by wind and solar is much cheaper, meaning Trump’s message about the need to return to fossil fuels misses the point.
“You have sharia courts that judge the law. »
Also taken from Trump’s comments Tuesday and part of his ongoing, albeit largely one-sided, fight with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
This repeated assertion is based on his apparently racist belief that many British cities, notably London, are in the grip of radical Islam.
The claim about sharia courts is not true, in the sense that Trump believes they deliver justice. There are a small number of sharia courts – more commonly known as sharia councils – but they are little more than community arbitration bodies with no legal powers, much like the Orthodox Jewish Beth Din courts which also exist in the UK, but which Trump mysteriously never mentions.
