US President Donald Trump has again taken aim at the UK’s military support in the Middle East, denigrating its aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, as “toys”.
Speaking at the start of a White House Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Trump criticised the speed at which the UK sent help in the days following the joint Israeli-US attacks on Iran almost one month ago.
“We had the UK say that ‘we’ll send’ – this is three weeks ago – ‘we’ll send our aircraft carriers’, which aren’t the best aircraft carriers by the way,” he said. “They’re toys compared to what we have.”
“But ‘we’ll send our aircraft carrier when the war is over’. I said ‘Oh that’s wonderful, thank you very much. Don’t bother. We don’t need it,’” he added.
He also directed part of his tirade, once again, at Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying: “I think he’s a lovely man, but I think he did something that was shocking. He didn’t want to help us.”
The US president, however, denied that the transatlantic tensions would affect the King’s planned visit to the US, insisting that it would go ahead.
“He’s going to be here very soon, as you know, we’re going have a state dinner,” he said. “It’s going be great,” he added.There have been calls for the historic royal trip to be scrapped or delayed because of the ongoing Middle East crisis.The tour has yet to be officially announced, but the King and Queen are expected to visit Washington and New York in April to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.
Trump also lashed out at NATO allies, saying they did “absolutely nothing” to help the US in the ongoing conflict.
“Now they all want to help. When they’re annihilated, the other side is annihilated; they will say, ‘we’d love to send ships,'” he said.
This is not the first time the US president has critiqued the UK’s military capabilities or its lack of involvement in the ongoing conflict.
Earlier this month, Trump told reporters Sir Keir Starmer is “no Winston Churchill” after the PM refused to permit the use of UK bases for the first strikes on Iran.
The US had wanted to use the military base in Diego Garcia on the Chagos Islands, but Starmer said bases should only be used for defensive purposes.
Trump told journalists that he was “not happy with the UK” as a result of the decision.
Speaking at a press conference later, Starmer said the “special relationship” with the US “remains intact”, despite the ongoing criticism from Trump.
The UK government later agreed to allow the US military to use the UK bases in operations to prevent Iran attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Permission was only granted for specific strikes tied to shipping, in an effort to protect boats in the vital oil shipping channel.
This was seen as a defensive operation, as opposed to encouraging escalation.
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Since then, on Monday, Starmer was asked by MP Meg Hillier how he deals with Trump who could be “quite rude” about the UK.
The prime minister replied: “Notwithstanding the pressure that comes from elsewhere, I will remain laser-focused on what is in the British national interest.”And a lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly said or done to put pressure on me. I have no doubt about that. I understand exactly what is going on, but I’m not going to be wavering on this.””I’m the British prime minister and my job is to be absolutely focused on what’s in the British national interest”, he added.
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