Nigel Farage declares US-UK special relationship is dead under Starmer after Trump attack
Transatlantic alliance with America over under Sir Keir Starmer, fumes Reform UK leader
Britain's special relationship with America is effectively over under Sir Keir Starmer, Nigel Farage has declared. The Reform UK leader delivered the devastating assessment just hours after Donald Trump savaged the Prime Minister as "not Winston Churchill" in a blistering White House attack.
Speaking at a press conference in central London on Wednesday, Mr Farage, who has close ties to the US president's inner circle, said the bond between Downing Street and the Oval Office had collapsed beyond repair. He warned: "I do not believe the relationship between Trump and Starmer will improve. We will have to wait until the next prime minister, whoever that is."
The damning intervention came after Mr Trump tore into Sir Keir over his refusal to let American fighter jets use the Chagos Islands to launch strikes on Iran. In a stinging rebuke from the White House, the president said: "I'm not happy with the UK ... this is not Winston Churchill we're dealing with."
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Mr Trump raged that Labour's controversial plan to hand over the strategic archipelago had forced US forces to waste "three, four days" finding alternative bases and fly "many extra hours" to reach targets.
Mr Farage piled on the pressure, branding the Churchill comparison "quite an understatement".
He said: "The man has dithered, he is all over the place, he is not a leader, he is a follower."
The Reform leader, who has appeared at campaign rallies for Mr Trump, added: "I think you've seen over the course of the last few weeks and months a deteriorating relationship between the Prime Minister and the president."
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He delivered a brutal takedown of Sir Keir, saying: "Starmer is just not the kind of guy to bowl into the Oval Office and speak to Donald Trump face to face."
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the Prime Minister over Britain's response to the Iran crisis after the UK chose not to join the initial American strike.
Speaking to The Sun over the weekend, the president said the PM "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. It's a different world, actually. It's just a much different kind of relationship that we've had with your country before."
Sir Keir hit back at Prime Minister's Questions, insisting: "American planes are operating out of British bases. That is the special relationship in action. British jets are shooting down drones and missiles to protect American lives in the Middle East on our joint bases. That is the special relationship in action."
