Trump slams Starmer as ‘not Winston Churchill’ for refusal to back Iran strikes

President Donald Trump blasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Tuesday, saying, "This is not Winston Churchill we are dealing with," amid a lack of support for the United States and Israel’s joint military operation against Iran.

The president spoke in the Oval Office ahead of a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Tuesday and took questions from reporters.

President Donald Trump blasted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Tuesday, saying "this is not Winston Churchill we are dealing with."  (Getty Images)

"By the way, I’m not happy with the U.K. either," the president said, referring to Starmer blocking the United States’ use of U.K. bases to launch attacks on Iran.

Starmer initially blocked the U.S. from using British military bases, specifically Diego Garcia, for strikes against Iran during Operation Epic Fury. The U.K. later permitted the use of the bases for "defensive strikes" after Trump's complaints. 

President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House March 3, 2026, in Washington.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The president referenced the Chagos Islands Tuesday, which are British territories in the Indian Ocean, saying it has taken "three, four days for us to work out where we can land there."

"It would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised," he said.

Trump added, though, "This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with."

Winston Churchill gives his famous V-sign as he opens the new headquarters of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron of the RAAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) at Croydon, 1948.  (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Later, the president said the United Kingdom has been "very, very uncooperative with that stupid island." 

"It’s a shame," Trump said. "That country, the U.K., and I love that country, I love it."

"My mother was born there," he said. "My father was born. Right? He knows all about my father. My father was born there. So, you know, very places that you sort of automatically very, very feel warmly about."

The president said again, "This is not the age of Churchill."

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Starmer has defended his decision to stay out of the conflict, saying the U.K. was "not involved in the ​initial strikes against Iran, and we will not join offensive action now." 

"But in the face of Iran's barrage of missiles and ⁠drones, we will protect our people in the region," Starmer said in an address Monday to Parliament. "President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the ​initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it."

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