Trump rebukes Starmer over UK refusal to back strikes on Iran | Donald Trump
Donald Trump has again criticized Keir Starmer for the UK’s refusal to assist in offensive strikes against Iran, saying “the relationship is obviously not what it used to be”.
Starmer had issued his strongest rebuke of Trump’s action in Iran, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from heaven” and defending his decision not to authorize the use of British bases to carry out the strikes.
But the prime minister said the UK would allow its bases to be used for defensive purposes to protect allied forces and countries in the Gulf and Middle East which have been hit by a wave of retaliatory strikes after US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Speaking to The Sun, Trump compared Starmer’s actions unfavorably to France’s support for the strikes and support for NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. “It has not been helpful. I never thought I would see this. I never thought I would see this from the UK. We love the UK,” he said.
“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 the relationship is obviously not what it used to be.”
Starmer has previously been praised for his ability to maintain relations with the volatile US president, but on Monday in the House of Commons the prime minister expressed doubts about US action in Tehran and its legality.
“We all remember and have learned from Iraq’s mistakes. Any action by the UK must always have a legal basis and a viable, considered plan,” he said. “That’s the principle I applied to the decisions I made this weekend.”
Reacting to Trump’s comments, the Prime Minister’s chief secretary, Darren Jones, reiterated that the UK would not take part in offensive strikes.
“I think the president’s frustration, from the way he put it, is that we were not involved in the initial US and Israeli strikes in Iran, but as the Prime Minister said in the House of Commons yesterday, we will only engage the British armed forces when it is in the British interest, with a clear plan and on a legal basis,” he said.
“We’re doing it now for defensive purposes, but we’re not going to get involved in a broader conflict in the Middle East.”
In his interview, Trump said he wished Starmer “lots of luck” and said he had a “great relationship” with the British people. He added that the UK was also not “such a recognizable country… I mean, if you look at what’s happened over the last period, it’s very different”.
He said the UK’s collaboration in offensive action would not make much difference to US objectives.
“It won’t matter, but [Starmer] should have helped…he should have. I mean, France was great. They were all great. The UK has been very different from others,” he said. “You’ve seen the NATO Secretary General, the great things he’s said, Mark Rutte, he’s great.
“No, they’ve all been pretty great, except…we think Keir’s was just really different.”
Trump said Starmer also needed to change course on the Chagos Islands deal – which the US had previously supported – as well as oil and gas exploration and immigration in the North Sea. “Stop people from coming from foreign countries who hate you,” he said. Asked if Starmer was trying to court Muslim voters, Trump said that “could be” the case.
Jones said that interpretation was “not correct.” He added: “The UK will act in the interests of British citizens, regardless of their religion 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 can to defend British citizens.”
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, Starmer said the UK was deploying aircraft and allowing the use of bases for defensive purposes due to strikes launched by Iran against the UK’s allies in the region in retaliation.
He said the RAF had intercepted an Iranian drone strike heading towards a coalition base in Iraq where British forces were stationed. Two drones were also fired at the British base in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, which Starmer said were launched before Sunday evening’s statement on US use of British bases.
Starmer had not previously expressed explicit opposition to the first wave of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, and other senior Iranian leaders.
Iran has since launched a wave of retaliatory missile and drone attacks against various targets in the Gulf and Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain and Oman.
The UK should allow the US to use RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to bomb Iranian “missile cities”, sites where high-speed ballistic missiles, Iran’s most dangerous weapons, are stored and can be launched.
