Keir Starmer has insisted he “won't yield” to Donald Trump’s threats to rip up a historic UK-US trade deal as the row between the leaders over the Iran war intensifies.
In a fresh attack on the prime minister, Mr Trump, who continues to be enraged by the UK’s refusal to join the conflict, said the trade agreement “can always be changed” and described the special relationship between the two countries as in a “sad” state.
He also hit out at what he termed "tragic" errors on drilling for oil in the North Sea and decried the UK's immigration policies as "insane".
But Sir Keir hit back, telling MPs his stance on the war would not change, despite “pressure” from the White House.
He told MPs: "My position on the Iran war has been clear from the start. We're not going to get dragged into this war. It is not our war.
"A lot of pressure has been applied to me to take a different course, and that pressure included what happened last night. I'm not going to change my mind. I'm not going to yield.
"It is not in our national interest to join this war, and we will not do so. I know where I stand."
President Trump’s latest attack, in an interview with Sky News, comes just over a week before a four-day trip by King Charles and Queen Camilla to the US, which will now unfold against a backdrop of strained transatlantic relations.
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked Sir Keir and other Nato allies for their perceived failure to support his war in Iran.
He said that while he likes the prime minister, the so-called US-UK “special relationship” has "been better" and is now in a "sad" state. Asked how he would describe the special relationship, Trump questioned: "With who?"
He reiterated his disappointment that Britain and other Nato allies had not joined the war with Iran “when we needed them”, and he warned he could reopen the two countries’ current trade agreement to give the UK worse terms as a result.
"We gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed. But we gave them a trade deal that was very good because they're having a lot of problems," Mr Trump said.
But the prime minister’s official spokesperson said he would not characterise the relationship between the two leaders in the same way as Mr Trump, saying the special relationship “exists on multiple levels” and was “far bigger than any individual issue”.
The spokesperson also said that UK officials continued to engage with their US counterparts on trade despite Mr Trump’s suggestion that last year’s deal could be changed. Those discussions do not involve revisiting the existing deal, Downing Street said.
Mr Trump’s latest threat comes less than a year after Sir Keir agreed a historic trade agreement with the US, designed in part to protect the UK from some of the fallout from Mr Trump’s tariffs, leaving Britain with a better result than many other countries.
The deal was the first of its kind agreed by the US after President Trump came to power and offers the UK relief from tariffs on cars and steel, in exchange for giving America’s agricultural industry greater access to British markets.
But the terms have only been partially implemented, with US tariffs on British steel still not fully removed as agreed, piling strain on the industry.
Elsewhere in his interview, the US president said that while he liked the Labour leader, whose party wants to end North Sea oil and gas production, with a focus on wind and solar farms instead, he had made a “tragic mistake in closing the North Sea oil”, as well as “a tragic mistake on immigration”.
He said the UK's immigration policies are "insane", while giving no further details, adding: "They’re [migrants] destroying… your country is being invaded."
The UK's energy and immigration policies are "the worst of both", he added: "You can't succeed, not possible."
But the US president added that he loves the UK and "I would love to see it succeed".
Later, President Trump hit out again, saying the UK has “got to stop with the windmills, and they got to open up the North Sea” as he criticised “horrible environmentalists”. He also appeared to urge the PM to “please speak to” oil companies, who he said were “begging” to go into the North Sea.
He also reposted an article from the Sun newspaper, titled ‘If hot air was a weapon Starmer would have rearmed Britain – but words don’t win wars’,
The row marks Mr Trump’s latest swipe at Sir Keir, as the pair continue to be at odds over the war in the Middle East.
Last week, at a White House Easter event, he likened Sir Keir to Neville Chamberlain, who tried to appease Hitler’s Germany, telling reporters that the UK had “a long way to go”.
He also mimicked the prime minister in a recent speech, and said Sir Keir had to ask his team about sending “two old broken-down aircraft carriers” to the region. Last month, he made another jibe about the PM, saying he was no Winston Churchill.
He also told the UK to “go get your own oil” in a row over the financial impact of the war on the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to the world’s oil supply, and warned that the US “won’t help you any more” in a tirade over the war.
This historic royal visit, scheduled between 27 and 30 April, will be the King’s first journey to the US as monarch. It is set to commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, heralding the commencement of celebrations across the nation.
Hours after Buckingham Palace unveiled the King’s US itinerary, Mr Trump characterised Charles as a "great gentleman".
Mr Trump also insisted his strained relationship with Sir Keir would “not at all” overshadow the royal visit.
He also told Sky News that an agreement to end the war with Iran is “very possible”.
American vice-president JD Vance took part in negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan, over the weekend aimed at ending the war, which concluded without any major breakthrough.
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