Donald Trump Launches Fresh Attack On Keir Starmer Over Iran Bombing
Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on Keir Starmer’s over the prime minister’s response to America and Israel’s decision to bomb Iran.
The US president said the prime minister has “not been helpful” after he initially refused to let the countries use British military bases to carry out their attack.
His comments to The Sun come a day after he said he was “very disappointed” in the PM – leading to a Commons rebuke from Starmer.
The prime minister told MPs the UK would not be involved in “offensive” operations in Iran.
However, he said the US could use British bases – including one on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands – to bomb weapons storage facilities and missile launch sites.
Nevertheless, Trump told The Sun that he felt let down by Starmer.
“He has not been helpful,” he said. “I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”
He added: “It’s not going to matter, but [Starmer] should have helped… he should have.
“I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.”
Trump continues: “You’ve seen the secretary general of NATO, the great things he said, Mark Rutte, he’s great.
“No, they’ve all been pretty much great other than…we think Keir’s was just very different.”
The president the US-UK spat over Iran meant “it’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before”.
Responding to Trump’s initial criticisms of him in the Commons yesterday, Starmer said: “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.”