Trump says US-UK relationship ‘not like it used to be’

AFP | London

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President Donald Trump said the historical relationship between the United States and Britain is “not like it used to be”, amid a diplomatic bustup over US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer -- who told parliament on Monday his government “does not believe in regime change from the skies” -- has drawn Trump’s wrath by initially refusing to have any role in Washington’s war with Iran.

Starmer later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.

But the episode angered Trump, who told British daily news- paper The Sun: “This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe”, singling out France and Germany.

Starmer has cultivated a warm relationship with the unpredictable Trump, who was given an unprecedented second state visit to Britain last year.

The so-called special relationship between the World War II allies is largely built on long-standing defence cooperation and intelligence sharing.

Any potential military action in the Middle East, however, is politically sensitive in the UK following former prime minister Tony Blair’s disastrous support for the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Trump’s comments came as UK media reported that the government was considering sending a warship to the Middle East.

HMS Duncan could reportedly be the Type 45 destroyer sent to the region, having recently completed a training exercise on taking down drones.

‘Legal basis’ Trump said Starmer had “not been helpful”, adding: “I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”

“It’s just a much different kind of relationship... It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was,” he said in a telephone interview.

Government minister Darren Jones defended Starmer’s decision to only get involved in military action where there was a “legal basis” and a “clear plan” that was in the UK’s own national interest.

“That’s why we were not involved in the initial strikes in Iran,” he said.

“But it is also why we’ve consented to American air forces using our air bases and for Briti s h jets to be in the sky in order to defend British citizens who are currently in the region,” he added.

He said two UK bases -- one in Glouces - tershire in western England and the U K - U S base on Diego Garcia island in the Indian Ocean -- had now been cleared for use by the Americans.

“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learnt those lessons,” Starmer said in parliament on Monday.

A British Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Cyprus was attacked early Monday by Iranian-made drones, one of which hit the runway, according to officials.

The base was “not being used by US bombers”, Starmer said.

‘Not-so special relationship’

British politicians have been haunted by the 2003 Iraq war, in which a reported 179 UK soldiers died.

An official UK inquiry into the conflict later found that Blair acted on flawed intelligence when deciding to join the war.

Evie Aspinall, director of the British Foreign Policy Group think tank, told AFP Starmer faced a “very tight diplomatic tightrope” with the US which “remains critical in the context of Ukraine and Greenland”.

Richard Whitman, an expert on international relations at the University of Kent, added that Trump’s remarks might herald a “new, not-so-special relationship”.

The worry for London was any “spillover” on Ukraine and the possibility of Trump getting a “bee in his bonnet” about the UK.

“That would be clearly disastrous for the UK,” he said.

The situation might be salvaged with a “bold announcement on defence spending uplifts”, said Sophia Gaston, a foreign policy research fellow at King’s College London.