Keir Starmer has been warned his relationship with Donald Trump may be beyond repair after the US president derided the prime minister for consulting his team about military decisions, in a mocking impersonation.
In a new low for UK-US relations, Trump appeared to imitate Starmer in a weak voice during an Easter lunch speech at the White House, and said the UK was “not our best” ally.
The episode is Trump’s latest broadside at Starmer and the UK’s “old” aircraft carriers after the prime minister declined to let the US use British military bases for its initial strikes on Iran.
Following the latest attack on Starmer, diplomatic and political figures said he was right to brush off the criticism but added that the relationship was very damaged and he would need to redouble efforts to built international relations elsewhere.
The US president said the UK “should be our best” ally but had not been during the Iran war, accusing Starmer of prevaricating over sending aircraft carriers.
During his speech, the president said: “I asked [the] UK, who should be our best. In fact the king is coming over here in two weeks, he’s a nice guy, King Charles.
“But should be our best but they weren’t our best. I said: ‘You have two, old broken-down aircraft carriers, do you think you could send them over?’
“‘Ohhh, I’ll have to ask my team.’
“I said: ‘You’re the prime minister, you don’t have to.’
“‘No, no, no, I have to ask my team. My team has to meet, we’re meeting next week.’
“But the war already started. Next week the war’s going to be over … in three days.”
However, Downing Street sources said Trump had never asked the UK for the vessels and Britain had not offered them. In previous criticism of Starmer two weeks ago, Trump said Starmer had asked to consult his team about sending minesweepers – not aircraft carriers.
One senior diplomat said Starmer was right to “essentially ignore” Trump and must now attempt to build ties with Canada, Australia and mainland Europe instead as it was hard to see how the relationship could recover.
Another former diplomat said the king’s visit and potentially Prince William and Kate’s forthcoming US tour may offer a way to improve UK relations with Trump, but that Starmer was taking the right approach in not bowing to the president’s demands.
One government adviser on foreign affairs said Starmer would always do what was in the UK’s best interests, even if that meant smoothing things over with Trump, but that the “unpredictable, erratic” nature of the president’s insults towards the UK called into question whether trying to have a close personal relationship was the best course of action.
Labour ministers and MPs have reassured Starmer that they strongly back his approach of staying calm in the face of Trump’s anger and insults – with some believing his handling of the war and the US president strengthens the case for him to remain leader, regardless of the outcome at the local elections next month.
Emily Thornberry, the Labour MP and chair of the foreign affairs committee, said she was “glad we have a leader in the UK who works with a team and listens to experts”.
“Making decisions about foreign policy, let alone about war, without listening to others leads to problems, like being taken by surprise when the Iranians close the straits of Hormuz,” she said.
Kim Darroch, the former national security adviser, and a former British ambassador to the US, said Starmer was “right to resist getting directly involved in this ‘war of choice’”.
“But it has unquestionably done significant damage to his personal relationship with Trump,” he said. “It could conceivably blow over. But it is equally possible that a damaged Trump could lash out, whether against Nato, or selected Europeans, including the UK, perhaps with new or higher tariffs – a risk which makes rebuilding our links with the EU single market an immediate priority.”
Trump’s attack on the UK and Starmer has caused problems for Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and the Conservatives, who were initially supportive of the US bombardment of Iran but have now tempered their backing.
Robert Jenrick, the Reform UK MP and economic lead, told LBC that the relationship between the prime minister and US president had “clearly taken a massive blow – probably irreparably so”. But he said he was by no means defending Trump “or the way he conducts himself – far from it”.
Jenrick said: “I don’t like to see foreign leaders berating the leader of the UK, regardless of which party he or she is. You want our prime minister to be somebody who is respected on the world stage and is treated with respect by our main allies.”
Trump’s remarks were made at a lunch that was not open to the press but they were released by the White House on a social media channel – and later deleted. However, the remarks were downloaded and republished by a politics reporter for the US website Business Insider.
During the lunch, Trump also mocked Emmanuel Macron, saying the French president was “still recovering from the right to the jaw” and claimed that Macron’s wife, Brigitte, “treats him extremely badly”.
Trump has repeatedly hit out at the UK over its refusal to authorise the use of military bases for the initial strikes on Iran, as well as its move to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Starmer has not retaliated but said he would stick to his position on the war “whatever the pressure and the noise”.
Asked by parliament’s liaison committee about the “quite rude” comments made by Trump, the prime minister said: “I’m utterly focused on what is in the best interests of our country and I am unapologetic about that. Notwithstanding the pressure that comes from elsewhere, I will remain laser focused on what is in the British national interest.
“And a lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly said and done to put pressure on me, I have no doubt about that. I understand what is going on. But I am not going to be wavering on this.”
He added: “I am the British prime minister and my job is to be absolutely focused on what is in the British national interest. That has served me well in recent weeks and that is the principle that I will continue to adhere to as we go forward taking difficult decisions.”
