Trump denounces UK, Spain over Iran stance
By AFP
March 3, 2026
Oil prices surged and stocks sank after US and Israeli forces began striking Iran at the weekend - Copyright US NAVY/US CENTRAL COMMAND/AFP -
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at Britain and Spain for not fully backing his attack on Iran, as he threatened to end “all trade” with Spain.
“I’m not happy with the UK,” Trump said, as he said of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Britain, a steadfast ally of the United States throughout the two world wars and in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, decided not to join the assault on Iran that Trump launched with Israel on Saturday.
Starmer said that US fighter jets could use two UK air bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose” — one in Gloucestershire in western England and the other at the joint UK-US Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer said that the United States was not authorized to use UK bases in Cyprus, one of which was struck by an Iranian-made drone.
“It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land. There would have been much more convenient landing there, as opposed to flying many extra hours,” Trump said in apparent reference to Diego Garcia.
Trump, after a series of flip-flops, has criticized Starmer for agreeing to return the Chagos Islands, where Diego Garcia lies and whose people were expelled by Britain, to Mauritius and instead to lease the base.
“I will say the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have,” said Trump, who was speaking next to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.
US President Donald Trump criticized the UK and Spain during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Trump voiced fury at Spain, where the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has not allowed the United States to attack Iran through bases long used by US forces.
“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said, adding that he has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings with Spain.”
He also pointed to Sanchez’s public refusal to join NATO allies in a pledge to boost defense spending to five percent of GDP, a level pushed by Trump which says the United States bears too much of a burden.
“So we’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
It remains unclear what power Trump would have to “end” trade with Spain, after the Supreme Court struck down his use of emergency powers to slap arbitrary tariffs on other countries.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares earlier said that his government would only allow the use of the Naval Base Rota and Moron Air Base for activities consistent with the United Nations Charter.
Trump says US-UK relationship ‘not like it used to be’By AFP
March 3, 2026
Oil prices surged and stocks sank after US and Israeli forces began striking Iran at the weekend - Copyright US NAVY/US CENTRAL COMMAND/AFP -
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at Britain and Spain for not fully backing his attack on Iran, as he threatened to end “all trade” with Spain.
“I’m not happy with the UK,” Trump said, as he said of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Britain, a steadfast ally of the United States throughout the two world wars and in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, decided not to join the assault on Iran that Trump launched with Israel on Saturday.
Starmer said that US fighter jets could use two UK air bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose” — one in Gloucestershire in western England and the other at the joint UK-US Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.
Starmer said that the United States was not authorized to use UK bases in Cyprus, one of which was struck by an Iranian-made drone.
“It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land. There would have been much more convenient landing there, as opposed to flying many extra hours,” Trump said in apparent reference to Diego Garcia.
Trump, after a series of flip-flops, has criticized Starmer for agreeing to return the Chagos Islands, where Diego Garcia lies and whose people were expelled by Britain, to Mauritius and instead to lease the base.
“I will say the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have,” said Trump, who was speaking next to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.
US President Donald Trump criticized the UK and Spain during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz – Copyright AFP ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS
Trump voiced fury at Spain, where the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has not allowed the United States to attack Iran through bases long used by US forces.
“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said, adding that he has asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings with Spain.”
He also pointed to Sanchez’s public refusal to join NATO allies in a pledge to boost defense spending to five percent of GDP, a level pushed by Trump which says the United States bears too much of a burden.
“So we’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
It remains unclear what power Trump would have to “end” trade with Spain, after the Supreme Court struck down his use of emergency powers to slap arbitrary tariffs on other countries.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares earlier said that his government would only allow the use of the Naval Base Rota and Moron Air Base for activities consistent with the United Nations Charter.
By AFP
March 3, 2026
The Union Jack flag in Whitehall, central London. — © AFP
US President Donald Trump said the historical relationship between his country and Britain was “not like it used to be,” in an interview to British daily newspaper The Sun, amid a major transatlantic fall out over US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
“This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe,” he said, singling out France and Germany, after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s initial refusal to allow the United States to use British military bases in its war with Iran.
Trump said Starmer “has not been helpful,” adding: “I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”
In a telephone interview from the White House on Monday evening, Trump said: “This was the most solid relationship of all. And now we have very strong relationships with other countries in Europe.”
“It’s a different world, actually. It’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before.
“It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was,” he added.
The scathing comments come a day after Trump described Starmer’s reaction as “very disappointing” in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
He added that Starmer’s later decision to allow the use of UK bases on specific grounds as “useful” but said it “took far too much time”.
Any potential military action in the Middle East is politically sensitive in the UK following former prime minister Tony Blair’s disastrous support for the US-led invasion of Iraq.
– ‘National interest’ –
Starmer defended his position to parliament 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,” he told lawmakers.
“That is what I have done and I stand by it,” he added.
After initially refusing to have any role in the strikes, Starmer on Sunday announced that he had agreed to a US request to use British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.
His Downing Street office said Starmer took the decision after Iran fired missiles over the weekend that put British interests and people “at risk”.
“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq, and we have learnt those lessons. Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan,” he added in parliament.
Trump said Starmer ‘had not been helpful’ – Copyright NOTICIAS ARGENTINAS/AFP STR
The prime minister also said that British military bases in Cyprus “are not being used by US bombers” during the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Britain’s Akrotiri air force base on Cyprus came under attack by an unmanned Iranian drone that hit the base’s runway early on Monday.
Starmer said the strike “was not in response to any decision that we have taken,” adding that the British government believed the drone “was launched prior to our announcement”.
Iran’s approach is becoming “more reckless and more dangerous”, Starmer said.
“They are working ruthlessly and deliberately through a plan to strike, not only military targets, but also economic targets in the region, with no regard for civilian casualties. That is the situation we face today and to which we must respond,” he added.
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