Starmer 'is not Winston Churchill', Trump rages in row over Britain's response to Iran war
Donald Trump has ramped up his war of words with Sir Keir Starmer, declaring he is “not happy with the UK.”
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Hitting out at Sir Keir in the Oval Office on Tuesday, the US President said, “this is not Winston Churchill we are dealing with" as he slammed the PM for choosing not to join the US and Israel in striking Iran.
It comes as war continues to rage across the Middle East following the Israeli and the US action in Iran on Saturday, which killed the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Israel and the US have continued to bombard Iran in recent days, with Tehran responding in kind with strikes across the Middle East.
Referring to the UK's Chagos deal's impact on the UK's involvement in Iran, Trump told reporters: "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.
"This is not Winston Churchill we're dealing with."
Responding to Trump's latest tirade, a Downing Street spokesperson reiterated what Sir Keir said on Monday: “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.”
Trump has been widely critical of the UK’s response to the conflict, accusing Sir Keir of being “unhelpful” after the PM chose not to be involved in the initial assault.
The President accused the UK of being "unrecognisable" and said other countries in Europe had "been great".
Trump made the comments in an interview with The Sun on Tuesday morning, just a day after he said he was "very disappointed" in Sir Keir for initially blocking the US from using the Diego Garcia military base to strike Iran.
The President said: "[Sir Keir] 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. It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before".
The US leader claimed he never thought he would see the once "most solid of all" Special Relationship in such peril.
"It’s also not such a recognisable country. I mean, you look at what happened over the last period of time and it’s very different," he said.
"London is a very different place, with a terrible Mayor. You have a terrible Mayor there, some terrible people, but it’s a very different place".
On the war, he added: "I can tell you that we’re doing very well, it’s a very dominant power."We are a very dominant power over and above everybody, and we’re doing very well, as you probably noticed".
The President also claimed his country no longer needed the UK as the conflict in the Middle East rages on.
He said: "It’s not going to matter, but [Sir Keir] 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".
Pressed on what he would prefer to see from the Prime Minister, Trump said: "Two very simple things.
"Open up the North Sea immediately.
"Your energy prices are through the roof, and stop people from coming in from foreign lands who hate you.
"Open up the North Sea and stop people from pouring into his country from faraway lands".
However, he did appear to show some sympathy to his UK counterpart by adding: "He has got his own difficulties.
"The people of the UK, who I have a great relationship with, who I love, are sorry to hear it also, I don’t get it.
"But you know what? I just, I wish him a lot of luck".
As fighting continues, Israel and US strikes flattened the building of a body tasked with choosing Iran's new supreme leader on Tuesday.
Iranian state media reported the "Assembly of Experts building" in the city of Qom, south of Tehran, was attacked on Tuesday.
Footage shows the building severely damaged in strikes confirmed by the Israeli military, with a large smoke plume rising into the sky.
The Assembly of Experts consists of members who help to decide who assumes the role of Supreme Leader after Ayatollah Khamenei was killing in US and Israeli strikes on Saturday.
It is unclear who was inside at the time of the strikes, though state media said the main building was not hit.
The strikes come after US President Donald Trump told Iran that it was "too late" for talks, as Washington and Tel Aviv continued their offensive in the Middle East.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to claim Tehran's "air defense, air force, navy, and leadership is gone".
His words came after the Israeli military had earlier said its air force had struck the Iranian regime's leadership compound.