Donald Trump has claimed that the British public "did not like" Sir Keir Starmer’s reluctance to engage in military action against Iran, while once again characterising the outgoing prime minister as "not Winston Churchill".
The president further reiterated his belief that Sir Keir had "hurt himself very, very badly" through his positions on immigration and energy. Despite these criticisms, Mr Trump also described him as "a very nice man" and "sort of a friend of mine".
Mr Trump’s remarks were made at the White House following Sir Keir’s resignation as Labour leader, a decision prompted by his acknowledgement of losing the confidence of his parliamentary colleagues.
The comments come as former Greater Manchester mayor and newly elected MP Andy Burnham is poised for a prominent role.
The president has been a vocal critic of the prime minister, particularly after the UK initially denied the US access to British military bases for a bombing campaign against Iran, though limited permission for defensive strikes was later granted.
Relations between the two nations were further strained during the subsequent stand-off in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington openly criticised the response of the UK and other allies to the Gulf crisis, suggesting that other nations had a greater need for the strategic waterway than the US.
The White House has also dismissed UK and France-led proposals for a defensive mission to secure shipping passage through the channel once hostilities concluded.
The conflict only fuelled existing tensions over Nato, with Mr Trump saying America had been shouldering the defence of other countries.
Only last week, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced a review of American military forces in Europe at a meeting of the alliance, as he criticised members who “have yet to show a credible path” towards meeting their spending commitments.
He told his counterparts “some of Nato’s largest economies” still seem “to think the era of free-riding is here”.
A row over UK military spending led John Healey to recently quit as defence secretary, piling further pressure on the already embattled prime minister.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Mr Trump, who is due to meet Nato chief Mark Rutte this week, said: “So we have been a great member of Nato. In many ways certainly the predominant member. We paid trillions of dollars over the years, not billions, trillions over the years to protect Europe.”
Referring to the Iran conflict, the president added: “We didn’t need any help at all. I was more curious than anything else, so I said to Pete (Hegseth) ‘Let’s see if they’d actually come’. So we asked him to come, and they weren’t there for us.
“By the way Starmer wasn’t there, and you know what, the people of the UK did not like it that he wasn’t there.
“Starmer said no. Starmer said worse than no. He said ‘We’ll be there as soon as you win’. I said ‘We don’t need you as soon as we win’.”
Mr Trump went on: “This was not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.
“As soon as we win, they’re going to come and help us.”
He also said Germany and Italy had been “very bad” over the Iran war, and has had public spats with the leaders of both countries.
Mr Trump said: “The numbers that we spend are so crazy for Nato and they weren’t there for us.”
Saying the US was spending “hundreds of millions of dollars to protect them (members) from Russia mostly”, he hinted the US may not assist allies in future.
The president said: “We spend all of this money, and then when we want to maybe have help on small stuff – this is small time, this is not the big one, this is small potatoes – they say ‘No, we’d rather not help’.
“Stupid thing to say, because we can say that to them if we want, and we might.”
Mr Trump also had a further swipe at Sir Keir over his immigration and energy policy.
He has repeatedly urged the UK to open up the North Sea for oil instead of relying on “windmills”.
Acknowledging he had been critical of Mr Starmer, Mr Trump said: “I think he’s a lovely man, but I said ‘You’re really messing up energy. You have windmills all over the place’. In the meantime, you have the North Sea oil, and they won’t let anybody drill.
“It’s one of the great fields in the world.
“You know that the UK buys much of its energy, you know where? Norway. You know where they get their oil? The North Sea.
“The UK has a much better portion of the North Sea, they don’t want to do it for environmental purposes.”
The president added: “He’s a very nice man, I mean, sort of a friend of mine, I mean he was not good to us with Nato, Pete (Hegseth), right?”
Referring to Sir Keir’s initial refusal for the US to use British bases, Mr Trump said: “That was a bad move that hurt him badly.
“I wish him well, but he’s got two problems – energy and immigration – and crime.
“But energy and immigration. He’s really hurt himself very, very badly.”
