UK ‘did not like’ Starmer refusing to be drawn into Iran war, says Trump

Donald Trump has said the British public “did not like” Keir Stammer’s refusal to be drawn into the war against Iran, as he again derided the outgoing British prime minister as “not Winston Churchill”.

The president also repeated his claim that Starmer had “hurt himself very, very badly” over his stance on immigration and energy, while declaring him “a very nice man” and “sort of a friend of mine”.

Trump made his comments at the White House after Starmer quit as Labour leader, having acknowledged he had lost the support of his MPs, and with former Greater Manchester mayor and new MP Andy Burnham waiting in the wings.

The president has been strongly critical of the British prime minister after he denied the US use of British military bases to conduct the bombing campaign against Iran, although limited permission was subsequently granted for defensive strikes.

Relations were further strained over the ensuing stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington berating the response of the UK and other allies to the Gulf crisis, saying other nations needed the strategic waterway more than the US.

The White House has been dismissive of UK and France-led plans for a defensive mission to ensure safe passage for shipping through the channel once hostilities ended.

The conflict only fuelled existing tensions over Nato, with Trump saying America had been shouldering the defence of other countries.

Only last week, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced a review of American military forces ​in Europe at a meeting of the alliance, as he criticised members who “have yet to show a credible path” towards meeting their spending commitments.

He told his counterparts “some of Nato’s largest economies” still seem “to think the era of free-riding is here”.

A row over UK military spending led John Healey to recently quit as defence secretary, piling further pressure on the already embattled British prime minister.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump, who is due to meet Nato chief Mark Rutte this week, said: “So we have been a great member of Nato. In many ways certainly the predominant member. We paid trillions of dollars over the years, not billions, trillions over the years to protect Europe.”

Referring to the Iran conflict, the president added: “We didn’t need any help at all. I was more curious than anything else, so I said to Pete (Hegseth) ‘Let’s see if they’d actually come’. So we asked him to come, and they weren’t there for us.

“By the way Starmer wasn’t there, and you know what, the people of the UK did not like it that he wasn’t there.

“Starmer said no. Starmer said worse than no. He said ‘We’ll be there as soon as you win’. I said ‘We don’t need you as soon as we win’.”

Trump went on: “This was not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.

“As soon as we win, they’re going to come and help us.”

He also said Germany and Italy had been “very bad” over the Iran war, and has had public spats with the leaders of both countries.

Trump said: “The numbers that we spend are so crazy for Nato and they weren’t there for us.”

Saying the US was spending “hundreds of millions of dollars to protect them (members) from Russia mostly”, he hinted the US may not assist allies in future.

The president said: “We spend all of this money, and then when we want to maybe have help on small stuff – this is small time, this is not the big one, this is small potatoes – they say ‘No, we’d rather not help’.

“Stupid thing to say, because we can say that to them if we want, and we might.”

Trump also had a further swipe at Starmer over his immigration and energy policy.

He has repeatedly urged the UK to open up the North Sea for oil instead of relying on “windmills”.

Acknowledging he had been critical of Starmer, Trump said: “I think he’s a lovely man, but I said ‘You’re really messing up energy. You have windmills all over the place’. In the meantime, you have the North Sea oil, and they won’t let anybody drill.

“It’s one of the great fields in the world.

“You know that the UK buys much of its energy, you know where? Norway. You know where they get their oil? The North Sea.

“The UK has a much better portion of the North Sea, they don’t want to do it for environmental purposes.”

The president added: “He’s a very nice man, I mean, sort of a friend of mine, I mean he was not good to us with Nato, Pete (Hegseth), right?”

Referring to Starmer’s initial refusal for the US to use British bases, Trump said: “That was a bad move that hurt him badly.

“I wish him well, but he’s got two problems – energy and immigration – and crime.

“But energy and immigration. He’s really hurt himself very, very badly.”