Trump says UK relationship ‘not what it was’ after Starmer blocks US use of British bases for Iran strikes
US president criticises PM’s decision on Iran strikes as ministers insist UK acts on legality and national interest
Donald Trump has said that he is “very sad” to see that the relationship with the UK “is obviously not what it was”.
It comes after Mr Trump had criticised Sir Keir Starmer’s decision not to allow US jets to deploy from UK bases to undertake the strikes on Iran.
Criticising the Prime Minister directly in an interview with The Sun newspaper, the US President said: “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.”
Mr Trump went on: “It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before.”
He added: “It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.”
Darren Jones said Donald Trump’s remarks about the UK do not “negate the fact that we make decisions on the basis of legality and British interest”.
Asked whether he accepted the US was frustrated, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister told Sky News: “Well I’ve seen the president’s words but that doesn’t really negate the fact that we make decisions, as I say, on the basis of legality and British interest.
“We were content to offer bases at Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, because evidently, the operations the Americans will run from those airfields will reduce the risk to British citizens and British assets in the region and that’s why we agreed to the request to use those bases on that basis alone.
“But the Prime Minister is very clear that we were not involved in that first strike and we’re not kind of going to war with Iran or getting involved in a wider set of activities.”
Asked whether the UK’s assessment was that there was not a legal basis for the initial military action over the weekend, Mr Jones said: “We were not involved in the first wave because it didn’t meet the test the Prime Minister’s set out.”
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