Donald Trump has told Sir Keir Starmer that the US does not need Britain to send its aircraft carriers to the Middle East.
The US President accused the UK of ‘finally giving serious thought’ but appeared to decline the offer in an extraordinary attack on the Prime Minister.
‘That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social. ‘We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won!’
The president’s fiery post comes after it emerged the UK was preparing to deploy HMS Prince of Wales to the Middle East as the conflict with Iran intensifies and criticism mounts over Britain’s military response.
Earlier this week, Trump declared that he was ‘not happy’ with the PM and accused him of being ‘very, very uncooperative’.
In an apparent reference to Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, the US President said: ‘That island… It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land there.
‘It would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised.’
Referring to Britain’s war-time PM, a bust of whom sits in the Oval Office, Trump added: ‘This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.’
Donald Trump has told Sir Keir Starmer that the US does not Britain to send its aircraft carriers to the Middle East
The president’s fiery post comes after it emerged the UK was preparing to deploy HMS Prince of Wales (pictured) to the Middle East
The US President went on to criticise the UK’s approach to the ‘stupid island’ as he issued a fresh blast at Sir Keir’s bid to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
‘This is not the age of Churchill. I will say the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have, that they gave away and took a 100-year lease,’ he told reporters in the Oval Office, as he sat alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
‘Having to do with, perhaps, indigenous people claiming the island that never even saw the island before. What’s that all about? They ruin relationships, it’s a shame.’
HMS Prince of Wales is currently docked in Portsmouth, undergoing repairs and maintenance.
The £3billion warship carries F-35 fighter jets and would be deployed alongside an escort of other vessels and a submarine if sent to the region.
On Thursday, Sir Keir urged Mr Trump to ‘de-escalate’ the crisis and negotiate with what is left of Iran’s leadership. But the PM admitted that, despite the global crisis, he had not spoken to the US President for almost a week following their spectacular falling-out.
Sir Keir has faced a growing chorus of criticism from allies in the Middle East over the lack of preparations that led to Cyprus looking for military support from France, Italy and Spain – rather than Britain – after an RAF base on the island was hit by an Iranian drone.
The PM has suggested that the fallout from the conflict could go on for months, with potentially huge impacts on energy bills and the cost of living – and the possibility of a new refugee crisis.
He acknowledged that relatives of the tens of thousands of British citizens trapped in the war zone were ‘worried sick’ but said a mass evacuation ‘is not going to happen overnight’.
He added: ‘I want you to know that your Government is resolute in our response, at home and abroad.
‘We will do everything we can to protect British lives, uphold British values and safeguard the national interest.’
Sir Keir did not deny reports suggesting that he had wanted to allow US jets to fly ‘defensive’ missions from British bases from the outset, but was blocked by Ed Miliband and other senior ministers who questioned whether having a positive relationship with the US was ‘a good thing right now for the Labour Party’.
Asked whether Mr Miliband was now in charge of foreign policy, the PM’s spokesman said: ‘Clearly the PM and Foreign Secretary have been key players in decision-making around this, along with key members of the Cabinet, as you would expect.’
Trump’s broadside leaves US-UK relations in a parlous state and is likely to provide further ammunition to the many critics who have accused Sir Keir of damaging Britain’s standing on the global stage.
The US President also repeated his frequent criticism of immigration and energy policies in the UK, saying: ‘I love that country, my mother was born there. But the UK, what they’re doing with energy and what they’re doing with immigration is horrible.’
He urged Sir Keir to ‘open up the North Sea’ and vented about ‘windmills all over the place that are ruining the country, ruining the landscapes, ruining the beautiful fields’.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
