Donald Trump has lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer over the Prime Minister’s response to the US launching strikes on Iran over the weekend.
During a press conference at the White House this afternoon, the US President singled out Britain’s response and expressed his dissatisfaction with the way they reacted to the missile blitz on Tehran.
The US President said Sir Keir “was no Winston Churchill” in a scathing analysis of the world leader – after the Prime Minister initially refused to allow American bombers to use UK bases, including at Diego Garcia.
Speaking about Labour’s Chagos “surrender” deal, Mr Trump said: “That island that you read about, the lease, for whatever reason, he made a lease of the island, somebody came and took it away from him.
“And it’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land, it would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours.
“So we are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with…”
For years, Mr Trump has made no secret of his admiration for the war hero – with the President decorating the Oval Office with a bust of Sir Winston, just as he did during his first presidency.
In response to the dig, Labour MP Toby Perkins hit back, telling GB News: “Well, it’s not Franklin Roosevelt that we’re dealing with either.
Donald Trump spoke to reporters this afternoon
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“I think the reality is that at least I made clear – he wasn’t convinced about the legality of the original offensive action. And for that reason, Britain wasn’t going to be getting involved and Britain wasn’t going to be allowing our bases to be used.”
After the Prime Minister refused to give his explicit blessing to the US, the President has ramped up his spat with Sir Keir over support from Britain, previously accusing the Labour leader of being “unhelpful”, while many fear for the fate of the US-UK special relationship.
In the Commons, the Prime Minister delivered a statement to MPs about the turmoil across the Middle East – and refused to explicitly support or condemn Mr Trump’s military action.
“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq and we have learned those lessons. Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan,” he said.
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Sir Keir Starmer delivered a statement in the Commons yesterday
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The President went on to express his “deep disappointment” with Sir Keir yesterday after the Prime Minister initially blocked American forces from launching strikes against Iran from the Diego Garcia military base.
Mr Trump suggested Sir Keir should have taken a stronger stance on British control of the territory – rather than surrendering the land to Mauritian sovereignty.
“He should have fought it out and owned it or make him take it, if you want to know the truth,” Mr Trump told The Telegraph. “But no, we were very disappointed in Keir.”
However, Britain is not the only European country subjected to Mr Trump’s ire, with the President vowing to cut off all trade with Spain after its Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, refused to allow the US to use its army bases for the same reason.
“Spain has been terrible,” the 47th President said, explaining he had instructed his Treasury Secretary to “cut off all dealings” with the country.
“We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told media: “Based on all the information I have, the bases are not being used for this military operation,.”
Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez condemned both the US-Israeli strikes as well as the subsequent retaliatory rockets from the Islamic Republic, which were fired back across the Middle East.
The Spanish premier declared the move to be “unjustified” and “dangerous military intervention”, expressing concern that the action breached international law.