Trump blasts Starmer as 'not helpful' over Iran and hints he has damaged the 'Special Relationship'
The President claimed other countries in Europe had "been great" unlike the UK
Donald Trump has blasted Sir Keir Starmer for "not being helpful" in the US war with Iran and described the breakdown in his relationship with the UK as "very sad".
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The President also 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.
In his latest outburst, 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".
Read more: Trump warns ‘hardest hits’ are ‘yet to come’ as war between Iran and US enters fourth day
The US leader claimed 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 enters his fourth day.
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".
Quizzed about the suggestion that Sir Keir is pandering to Muslim voters for political reasons, the President said "it could be".
The UK Government initially refused US forces from using Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, citing international law, but the Sir Keir said on Sunday evening that he would allow them access for "specific and limited defensive purposes".
Speaking to The Telegraph, Trump said Downing Street "took far too long" to change his mind.
He said: "That’s probably never happened between our countries before. It sounds like he was worried about the legality".
Iran launched a series of strikes in retaliation to US and Israeli attacks over the weekend which killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which have hit multiple states and cities in the Middle East including Dubai, Bahrain, and Qatar.
The row surrounding Diego Garcia led the President to withdraw his support for the UK's controversial Chagos deal to hand over ownership of the Indian Ocean territory to Mauritius and instead lease back the military base.
There was no British involvement in the initial wave of strikes carried out by the US and Israel.
Two days into the US strikes on Iran, the President said the operation was “well ahead of schedule”. Trump also suggested Sir Keir should have always approved American use of Diego Garcia, because Iran was responsible for killing "a lot of people from your country".
Without referring to specific cases, he told The Telegraph: "[There are] people without arms and legs and faces that have been blown up. Iran is 95 per cent of those. Those horrible events were caused by Iran".
Sir Keir on Monday said his Government "does not believe in regime change from the skies", in an apparent criticism of the US President's bombing campaign in the Middle East.
The Prime Minister also told the House of Commons he stood by his decision not to get involved with America and Israel's initial wave of strikes on Iran, and insisted any action by the UK "must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan".