Donald Trump has seemingly taken another brutal dig at Sir Keir Starmer as tensions over persistent US strikes on Iran threaten to boil over. The UK Prime Minister revealed on Sunday that the US would be allowed to use British bases for “limited” and “defensive” operations.
But Mr Trump quickly hit back, claiming Sir Keir’s decision had taken “far too long”. The White House has now made clear the US expects full backing from its European allies as the conflict intensifies. On Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said: “I think [Spain] heard the president’s message yesterday, loud and clear, and it’s my understanding, over the past several hours, they’ve agreed to co-operate with the US military.” She added to reporters: “The US military is co-ordinating with their counterparts in Spain. But the president expects all Europe, all of our European allies, of course, to co-operate in this long sought-after mission … to crush the rogue Iranian regime.”
The US had wanted to use the base at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, but the Prime Minister declined before later agreeing to limited “defensive” use of UK facilities.
Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office he was “not happy with the UK”, saying the refusal forced US aircraft to fly “many extra hours”.
He branded the delay “shocking” adding: “That island that you write about, the lease….for whatever reason, he made a lease of the island. Somebody came and took it away from him and it’s taken three or four days for us to work out where we can land.”
The remark appeared to be the start of growing tensions between Washington and London over the conflict with Iran.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir defended the UK–US relationship by pointing to ongoing military and intelligence cooperation.
He said American planes are operating from British bases, UK jets are helping shoot down drones and missiles to protect US forces in the Middle East, and the two countries share intelligence daily.
Sir Keir argued these actions show the “special relationship” in practice, adding that focusing on Mr Trump’s latest remarks does not define the partnership.
Madrid had also initially refused to allow the use of its joint bases with the US over fears the move could violate international law.
However, Spain has pushed back on the White House’s claims it has since agreed to cooperate with Washington.
Spain’s Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said the country’s position on the conflict and the use of US military bases on Spanish territory “has not changed”, adding he had no idea what the White House was referring to.
Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, also took a firm stance against the military action, warning against repeating the “mistakes of the past” in the Middle East during a televised address on Wednesday morning.
He said further escalation risked repeating the failures of previous interventions and urged the international community to pursue diplomacy rather than widen the conflict.