TRUMP TELLS STARMER: DON'T BOTHER, WE'VE ALREADY WON!
US president says he will remember lack of support from ‘our once Great Ally’ for war he’s ‘already won’
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| Donald Trump’s scathing intervention risks cementing the collapse of the special relationship Credit: Aaron Schwartz/EPA |
Donald Trump told Sir Keir Starmer that the United States does not need its “once great ally” Britain to send aircraft carriers to the Middle East
The US president said he “will remember” the lack of British support for his war with Iran in a scathing intervention which risks cementing the collapse of the special relationship.
“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” he posted on his Truth Social platform.
“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer – But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”
Mr Trump made the remarks after it emerged the Royal Navy was preparing HMS Prince of Wales, one of its two aircraft carriers, for possible deployment to the Middle East within five days.
His comments suggest that Britain may have formally offered an aircraft carrier to the US.
Elaborating on his remarks on board Air Force One on Saturday night, Mr Trump said: “We don’t need them, it would have been nice to have them two weeks ago.”
The crew of HMS Prince of Wales was alerted and preparations were accelerated to ensure that the carrier was ready, should ministers decide that additional naval forces were required.
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| HMS Prince Of Wales docked at Portsmouth Naval Base in Hampshire on Saturday Credit: Paul Jacobs |
Mr Trump last week described Sir Keir as “no Winston Churchill” for initially denying permission to launch strikes from the joint US-UK Diego Garcia base in the Chagos Islands.
It comes as Sir Tony Blair said Sir Keir should have backed Mr Trump from the very beginning of the escalating conflict.
Sir Tony said that when it comes to an ally that is an “indispensable cornerstone of your security, you better show up”, adding “they were [just] asking to use our bases for refuelling”.
The former Labour prime minister, who supported George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, said that the current US president had a “pretty fundamental understanding of what the stakes are” in the Middle East.
At a private lunch on Friday, Sir Tony described the Iran war as “not like Vietnam” or the “Iraq campaign, [where we sent] in thousands of British troops”.
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| Sir Tony Blair (left), with Sir Keir Starmer, said conflict was ‘not like Vietnam’ or the ‘Iraq campaign’ Credit: Stefan Rousseau |
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that a Merlin helicopter was also on its way to the region to bolster defences, following the deployment of Typhoons earlier this week.
John Healey, the Defence Secretary, is preparing to demand an emergency injection of cash from Rachel Reeves to cover the spiralling defence bill, The Telegraph understands.
The growing costs of deployment risk a row between the MoD and the Treasury over spending.
It is likely to put him on a collision course with the Chancellor, who is already facing an energy price shock and rising borrowing costs.
Ms Reeves had repeatedly resisted calls to increase defence spending, despite military chiefs warning of a £28bn shortfall in MoD finances.
A source familiar with relations between the Chancellor and Mr Healey said: “We are flying jets, using up ammunition, we have got in Akrotiri in Cyprus, families who have been moved out of the base to accommodation to keep them safe elsewhere in the island.
“All these demands – kit and capability, more jets, Wildcats [helicopters], ships – all of this stuff costs money. Ultimately our priority is the safety and security of British personnel. We are not having an argument about funding that will stop us getting on with things.
“Traditionally there has always been a conversation with the Treasury when there is unforeseen stuff. I would imagine there will need to be a conversation.
“Ultimately there has to be a decision at some point as the conflict continues, how we are going to deal with the resourcing.”
Officials also confirmed on Saturday that the US had started using British bases for “specific defensive operations” aimed at preventing Iran firing missiles into the region, while the head of Britain’s Armed Forces said we are in “probably the most dangerous period” in decades. He said that “the demands on defence are rising”.
On Saturday, it was disclosed that the security services were braced for a wave of Iranian cyber attacks on Britain, aimed at both civilian and government infrastructure.
“There have been concerns expressed at classified levels about Iranian cyber activity against the UK,” a Whitehall source said.
“There is increasing awareness of this and an increase in focus from the Government on the security side, ensuring we have got robust cyber defences in place.”
It will pile pressure on Sir Keir Starmer. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said he had become “hostage to the Left wing of the Labour Party”.
She added: “Despite having a historic majority, he does not have the strength to push through difficult decisions.
“I’m very worried that Keir Starmer is not in charge of this Government. He’s just waiting for his back benches and the Left-wingers in his cabinet to tell him what to do.”
‘You better show up’
At a Jewish News event on Friday, Sir Tony said he had relayed his feelings to the Government.
He said: “I’m not saying anything to you that I wouldn’t and haven’t said to the Government. I think we should have backed America from the very beginning.
“They were asking us to use our bases for refuelling. It’s not like Vietnam. It’s not like, as we did in Iraq, sending in 1000s of British troops.
“So I think you’ve got to make the argument to the public that this American relationship matters. It matters particularly today.
“It’s not a question of whether it’s this president, that president, if they’re your ally and they’re an indispensable cornerstone of your security, you better show up."
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Even if Sir Keir does decide to increase British support of the US, questions remain over Britain’s ability to fund its own military operations.
The escalating war in Iran threatens to shrink the Chancellor’s fiscal headroom, decreasing her ability to cover rising defence costs.
As the conflict escalates, worries of an inflation spike and expectations that the Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold have caused government borrowing costs to rise at the fastest pace since the Liz Truss mini-Budget crisis.
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