Trump: Starmer’s ‘no Churchill’ and ‘I forced Israel’s hand’ over Iran attacks
US president speaks from White House alongside German Chancellor
President Trump has launched an extraordinary attack on Keir Starmer, claiming he is “not Winston Churchill” while insisting he forced Israel’s hand to launch attacks with the United States on Iran.
Speaking to reporters from the White House, alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the US president was first asked about claims Israel had forced his hand over the launch of strikes on Iran.
He said, “No, I might have forced their hand.”
Trump added: “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion they were going to attack first.”
“I didn’t want that to happen. “So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
On the situation in Iran, he continued:”I was surprised, and now those countries are all fighting against them.”
But in his most critical remarks on Starmer to date, Trump said: “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.”
He added he was “not happy with the UK” because of the initial refusal from London to let Washington use the British base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean during its first strikes on Iran.
Referring to the UK’s Chagos Islands deal, he says: “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.
“So we are very surprised. This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Trump hit out at Britain’s approach to the “stupid island” of the Chagos Archipelago as he held a press conference in the Oval Office.
He said: “I will say the UK has been very, very unco-operative with that stupid island that they have, that they gave away and took a 100-year lease; having to do with, perhaps, indigenous people claiming the island that they never even saw before. What’s that all about?”
Trump went on to claim he loves the UK as his mother was born there and hit out at Britain’s approach to energy and migration, a topic which he has criticised the Government for previously.
“The UK, what they’re doing with energy and what they’re doing with immigration is horrible,” he said.
On the outcome of the war on Tehran, he said that the “worst possible outcome” of the US-Israel war on Iran would be if a new leader takes over who is “as bad” as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a large-scale air attack on the country over the weekend.
The president noted that the strikes have had a “very powerful impact because virtually everything they have has been knocked out”, but expressed his surprise that the Iranian regime was launching strikes against many of its neighbours in the Middle East.
“Now those countries are all fighting against them and fighting strongly against them,” Trump added.
He singled out the UK and Spain for the most criticism. Trump said:”Sapin has been very very uncooperative. And so has the UK.”
But he praised the German Chancellor even though he had also backed Starmer’s initial position on the strikes along with E3 partner France, which stated:”We did not participate in these strikes, but are in close contact with our international partners, including the United States, Israel and partners in the region.”
The United States had sought the use of the base in the Indian Ocean and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for those strikes, but Starmer refused.
He told MPs his decision was informed by history, saying “we all remember the mistakes of Iraq”.
“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,” he told MPs on Monday.
However, the situation changed on Sunday when Iran’s “outrageous” response became “a threat to our people, our interests and our allies”, the PM said.
Trump’s remarks about Israel contradicted a claim made by his secretary of state Marc Rubio the previous day.
“It was abundantly clear that if Iran came under attack by anyone – the United States or Israel or anyone – they were going to respond, and respond against the United States,” Rubio told reporters at the Capitol.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces, and we knew that if we didn’t pre-emptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
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