Starmer talks to Trump amid west Asia crisis
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spoken to Donald Trump to discuss the situation in West Asia after the US President had been extremely critical of the UK’s response to the strikes on Iran.
Trump took to social media to dismiss Starmer’s plan to send aircraft carriers to the region as an attempt to join wars “already won”.
Downing Street released a readout of the Trump-Starmer call on Sunday, seen as an effort to smooth over the so-called UK-US “special relationship”.
“The leaders began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and US through the use of RAF (Royal Air Force) bases in support of the collective self-defence of partners in the region,” a 10 Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The Prime Minister also shared his heartfelt condolences with President Trump and the American people following the deaths of six US soldiers. They looked forward to speaking again soon,” the spokesperson said.
It came after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed that one of the UK’s two aircraft carriers has been placed on advanced readiness, with the crew of HMS Prince of Wales docked in Portsmouth told they must be ready to leave within days.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social soon after. “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!,” he wrote.
Later, speaking on Air Force One in response to a question about the use of UK bases in the joint Israeli strikes on Iran, he added: “We don’t need them (aircraft carriers). It’s not the right time. It would have been nice to have them two weeks ago.”
