Trump ‘surprised’ as Starmer refuses to immediately send UK warships to Hormuz
Donald Trump has once again criticized Keir Starmer, stating that the UK should be "enthusiastically" helping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The unpredictable 79-year-old expressed he was "not happy" with the UK and was "very surprised" by its response to the Middle East war. This comes shortly after the PM said he would not allow the UK to be drawn into a broader conflict and mentioned that Britain is working with allies to devise a credible plan to reopen the strait.
The effective closure of the 100-mile shipping route—which follows the US and Israeli assault on Iran three weeks ago—has triggered global panic. Earlier, Mr. Starmer stated that ending the conflict is the key way to address the cost of living crisis that is expected to follow.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, the US President criticized the PM for not immediately aligning with his demands. During a phone call on Sunday, Trump claimed that Mr. Starmer said he would seek advice before committing warships to secure the strait.
The US commander-in-chief complained: "The Prime Minister of the UK, United Kingdom, yesterday told me, I’m meeting with my team to make a determination. I said you don’t need to meet with your team, you’re the Prime Minister, you can make your own decisions, why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you’re going to send some minesweepers to help us or to send some boats.
"I said you don’t have to meet with your team, it’s the same thing here." Mr. Trump then claimed oil prices would fall "very, very rapidly".
The US President went on to allege he had asked the UK to send ships to the Middle East weeks ago—but alleged Mr. Starmer "really didn’t want to do it." Asked about countries helping with the Strait of Hormuz, he said: "I was very surprised with the United Kingdom, because United Kingdom two weeks ago, I said, why don’t you send some ships over? And he really didn’t want to do it.
"I said, you don’t want to do it? We’ve been with you. You’re our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on, you know, NATO and all of these things to protect you.
"We’re protecting them. We’re working with them on Ukraine. Ukraine’s thousands of miles away, separated by a vast ocean. We don’t have to do that, but we did it. Well, Biden did it. I mean, I have to be honest with you, Biden got taken to the cleaners, but we worked with them in Ukraine.
"We don’t need to work with them in Ukraine, and then they tell us that we have a mine ship around and they don’t want to do it." Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr. Starmer said the UK is working with allies to formulate a viable plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He has so far refused to commit warships to protect the vital shipping route, as demanded by Trump—saying international consensus is needed.
Mr. Starmer said: "While taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war." And he added: "I want to see an end to this war as quickly as possible, because the longer it goes on, the more dangerous the situation becomes, and the worse it is for the cost of living back here at home."
He continued: "We’re working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts."
Politics Editor
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