President Trump used an Easter lunch at the White House to lampoon Britain's prime minister and question the UK's reliability as an ally in the Iran war, sparking fresh friction across the Atlantic. In remarks later scrubbed from an official White House social media feed but reposted by a reporter from Business Insider, Trump claimed that Keir Starmer hesitated over sending what he called Britain's "old broken-down" aircraft carriers to support US action in the Middle East, mimicking Starmer as saying he needed to "ask my team" while the conflict raged, per the Guardian. Trump also tells the Telegraph he's confident that King Charles III would've worked with him if the monarch were the one in charge of such decisions over Starmer.
UK government sources are pushing back, saying no such US request was ever made, and that Britain never offered its carriers. Trump has repeatedly slammed the UK for limiting support in strikes on Iran, as well as for its decision to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Starmer has declined to respond in kind, insisting in recent comments to MPs that he will stay "laser focused" on what he calls the British national interest, "whatever the pressure and the noise." Trump also took aim at Emmanuel Macron at the lunch, joking that the French president was still reeling from a "right to the jaw," allegedly from his own wife, Brigitte, who Trump said treats Macron "extremely badly."
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