Donald Trump has lambasted his relationship with Britain under Sir Keir Starmer, saying he is “very sad” to see it is “obviously not what it was”.
The prime minister granted permission on Sunday for the US to use UK bases to target Iran’s missile launchers and stores to help protect countries targeted by Tehran, but the US president said he was “very disappointed” with Sir Keir over his initial refusal to allow the US to use the UK-US Diego Garcia base on the Chagos Islands as part of the operation.
He added that it “took far too long” for the prime minister to change his mind.
Hitting out at the prime minister directly in an interview with The Sun, 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.”
But chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones said the remarks 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 Cabinet 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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