Donald Trump has criticized British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the United Kingdom’s reluctance to fully participate in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, a dispute straining trans-Atlantic ties. Trump publicly questioned whether Starmer was a leader in the mold of Winston Churchill, highlighting growing friction between the two nations.
Britain is in Trump’s bad books
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump said at the White House, criticizing Britain’s limitations on the use of its bases by U.S. warplanes.
Trump told British tabloid The Sun that the relationship with the UK has deteriorated, stating, “This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe…France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.” He added, “It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.”
Starmer initially blocked American planes from using British bases for the attacks on Iran that began late Saturday, later allowing the United States to use bases in England and on Diego Garcia to strike Iranian ballistic missiles and storage sites, but not other targets.
Despite an Iran-made drone strike on the British base at Akrotiri in Cyprus over the weekend, Starmer maintained the UK “will not join offensive action.” He announced the deployment of a Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Dragon, and Wildcat helicopters with counter-drone capabilities for “defensive operations,” and confirmed British forces have downed drones in Jordanian and Iraqi airspace.
Starmer offered an implicit rebuke of the U.S. president, stating the UK government does not believe in “regime change from the skies.”
“Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan,” Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons. “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest.”
The dispute follows months of tension between the two leaders, including Trump’s previous threat to acquire Greenland, which Starmer and other European leaders denounced. Trump has also criticized Britain’s agreement to transfer the Chagos Islands, including the Diego Garcia base, to Mauritius.
Peter Ricketts, a former head of the UK Foreign Office, told The Observer newspaper that the U.S. under Trump has “effectively given up on any effort to be consistent with international law.”
Starmer has sought to cultivate a relationship with Trump since the president’s return to office in 2025, with the British government hosting Trump for a state visit and Starmer consistently praising Trump’s efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Iran conflict has also divided European leaders, with reactions ranging from condemnation to support. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte expressed full approval of Trump’s decision to attack Iran and kill its supreme leader, calling the war crucial for Europe’s security.
The UK, France, and Germany jointly stated they were not involved in the strikes but were prepared to enable “necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned the strikes as “unjustifiable” and “dangerous.”
While polling suggests skepticism among Britons regarding the U.S. justification for war, some politicians to the right of Starmer’s Labour Party criticized the prime minister for not joining the offensive. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch stated her party “stands behind America taking this necessary action against state-sponsored terror.”
Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty denied the U.S.-UK “special relationship” was faltering, stating, “Our relationship with the United States is strong. It has endured, it continues to endure, and it will endure into the future on both the economic and the security fronts.”
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