The U.S.-Israel war on Iran has fueled a disagreement between President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Britain has not joined in the strikes on Iran and Trump says the trans-Atlantic relationship is “not what it was.” Starmer initially blocked U.S. planes from using British bases for the first attacks that began on Saturday.
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Doctors wish they wouldn'tYoung woman says she was on social media 'all day long' as a child in landmark addiction trialHegseth warns Anthropic to let the military use the company’s AI tech as it sees fit, AP sources sayVatican removes salty white film coating Michelangelo's 'The Last Judgment'Presidente de Cuba insta a hacer cambios al modelo económico y empresarial de la islaU.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as they shake hands during a press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday Sept. 18, 2025. Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer issues a statement at 10 Downing Street, London, on the latest developments in the Middle East, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. President Donald Trump speaks about Iran before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as they shake hands during a press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday Sept. 18, 2025. Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer look at each other as they shake hands during a press conference at Chequers near Aylesbury, England, Thursday Sept. 18, 2025. Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer issues a statement at 10 Downing Street, London, on the latest developments in the Middle East, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer issues a statement at 10 Downing Street, London, on the latest developments in the Middle East, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. President Donald Trump speaks about Iran before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. President Donald Trump speaks about Iran before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. That is not being reciprocated now as the American president lambasts Britain’s prime minister over his reluctance to join the U.S.-Israeli The dispute is roiling a relationship that Starmer worked hard to forge, and further straining trans-Atlantic ties frayed by Trump’s “America first” foreign policy and transactional approach to international relations. “This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe,” Trump told British tabloid The Sun in an interview published Tuesday. “I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great,” Trump said. “The U.K. has been much different from others.”Starmer initially blocked American planes from using British bases for the attacks on Iran that started on Saturday. He later agreed to let the United States use bases in England and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to strike Iran’s ballistic missiles and their storage sites, but not to hit other targets.The British leader also offered a rare, though implicit, rebuke of the U.S. president, saying the U.K. government does not believe in “regime change from the skies.” “Any U.K. actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan,” Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday. “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,” Starmer added. The Financial Times called it Starmer’s “Love Actually moment” — a reference to the 2003 movie scene in which a British prime minister played by Hugh Grant stands up to a bullying U.S. president played by Billy Bob Thornton.Peter Ricketts, a former head of Britain’s Foreign Office, told The Observer newspaper that under Trump, “the Americans have effectively given up on any effort to be consistent with international law.” That is a red line for the law-abiding Starmer, a barrister and former chief prosecutor for England and Wales.since the president’s return to office in 2025. The British government rolled out the red carpet to the president forThe Iran war has also divided European leaders, who fall along a spectrum from condemnation to support. NATO chief Mark Rutte said he unreservedly approves of Trump’s decision to attack Iran and kill its supreme leader, and called the war crucial for Europe’s security. The U.K., France and Germany jointly said they were not involved in the strikes but were prepared to enable “necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source.”Polling suggests many Britons are skeptical of the U.S. justification for war. But politicians to the right of Starmer’s Labour Party slammed the prime minister for not joining the offensive. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said her party “stands behind America taking this necessary action against state-sponsored terror.” Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty denied the U.S.-U.K, “special relationship” was on the ropes. “Our relationship with the United States is strong,” he said Tuesday in the House of Commons. “It has endured, it continues to endure, and it will endure into the future on both the economic and the security fronts.”Lawless is based in London, covering British politics, diplomacy and culture and top stories from the UK and beyond. She has reported for the AP from two dozen countries on four continents.
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