Trump rebukes Starmer again for not letting US attack Iran from UK bases

Donald Trump has launched a deeply personal attack on Keir Starmer over his refusal to let the US launch initial strikes on Iran from British bases, telling reporters: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

In his latest extraordinary salvo, the US president said he was not happy with the UK even though the prime minister eventually agreed the US could use Diego Garcia for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.

It was the third time in 24 hours that Trump had criticised Starmer for the UK’s refusal to aid the initial strikes, underlining his frustration at 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 he said Starmer had taken far too long to allow the US to use UK bases.

Starmer has previously been praised for his ability to maintain a relationship with the volatile US president, but on Monday in the Commons, he expressed doubt about the US action in Tehran and its legality.

He issued his strongest rebuke yet, saying the UK did not believe in “regime change from the skies” and defended his decision not to allow the use of British bases to conduct the strikes.

But he said the UK would allow the use of Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford for defensive action to protect British citizens and forces, as well as allied countries in the Middle East which have been hit by a wave of retaliatory strikes from Iran after the US-Israeli attacks.

“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. That is what I have done, and I stand by it,” Starmer said on Monday.

The chair 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 made of Trump. He certainly ain’t no Franklin D Roosevelt.”

European countries have struggled to find a united position on the rapidly unfolding events in the Middle East. Trump threatened to cut off all trade with Spain on Tuesday after Madrid prohibited the US from using bases on its territory to carry out attacks on Iran.

Sitting alongside the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump said the UK had been “very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have” in an apparent reference to Diego Garcia.

He also criticised Spain for being uncooperative saying it had been “terrible, then added: “I’m not happy with the UK either. That island that you read about … It’s taken three or four days to work out where we can land.

“It would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours. We are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with”.

Trump had previously compared Starmer’s position unfavourably with France’s support for the strikes and the backing of the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte. “He has not 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 much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before. It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.”

Trump said Starmer also needed to change course on the Chagos Islands deal – which the US had previously supported – as well as North Sea oil and gas exploration and immigration.

“Stop people from coming in from foreign lands who hate you,” he said. Asked if Starmer was trying to court Muslim voters, Trump said it could be the case. He has also falsely claimed 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 whatever we can to defend British citizens.”

A poll from YouGov shows that 49% of Britons oppose the US strikes on Iran compared with 28% who back them. It also reveals that 32% support the US using RAF bases to launch attacks as long as the targets are restricted to missile sites, while 50% oppose it.