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Calling England's stance on Iran "very, very uncooperative," US President Donald Trump has criticised United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer for "ruining relationships", saying he was no "Winston Churchill".
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (local time) in the Oval Office, Trump said he was "not happy" with what he described as a lack of cooperation from London during the build-up to the strikes on Tehran. The US President alleged that the UK had refused at first to allow American bombers to use Diego Garcia, the joint US-UK military base on the Chagos Islands, to launch operations. "This is not Winston Churchill we're dealing with," Trump said, drawing a comparison with Britain's wartime leader. "They ruin relationships. It's a shame," he added. He further described the UK's stance as "very, very uncooperative" and termed the situation surrounding the island base as "shocking". However, the US President noted that Starmer relented late on Sunday night, eventually allowing American forces to use British bases to carry out the strikes. The comments point to strains within the so-called "special relationship" between Washington and London, long regarded as a cornerstone of Western security cooperation. While hosting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office, during the same interaction with reporters, Trump also aimed at Spain. The US President announced that Washington would cut off all trade with Spain after Madrid barred the US military from using its bases for operations related to the conflict with Iran. "Spain has been terrible," Trump said. He added that he had instructed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all dealings" with Spain. "We're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain," he said. On February 28, the US and Israeli in coordinated airstrikes across multiple Iranian cities, targeting military command centres, air-defence systems, missile sites, and key regime infrastructure, resulting in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and four senior military and security officials, with large explosions reported in Tehran and other major cities. In response, Iran retaliated by launching ballistic missiles and drones at US assets and allies across the region, including Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, further widening the conflict in the Middle East and heightening risks for civilians and expatriates alike. (ANI)
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