By Nandita Bose, Trevor Hunnicutt and Kate Holton
WASHINGTON/LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump castigated one of the United States' closest allies on Tuesday, comparing Prime Minister Keir Starmer unfavorably to Winston Churchill over Britain's limited support for U.S. strikes on Iran.
"This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with," Trump said at the White House, referencing Starmer's legendary World War Two predecessor.
The Oval Office comments were Trump's third broadside against Starmer this week as Washington's campaign of air strikes against Iran stoked concerns among some U.S. partners who see the war as reckless and a violation of international law.
Trump and his aides have long scolded European allies over their immigration policies, lower-than-pledged military spending and hostility to far-right movements. And Trump's often tepid support for Ukraine and his threats to seize Danish territory have raised fears in Europe about the stability of a transatlantic alliance facing growing threats from Russia.
TRUMP'S COMPLAINT OVER IRAN STRIKES
Starmer has said Britain did not take part in the U.S.-Israeli assault on Tehran because any British military action must have a "viable, thought-through plan" and he did not believe in "regime change from the skies."
But he has since allowed the U.S. to use UK bases to launch what he called limited and defensive strikes to weaken Tehran's capabilities, after Iran hit U.S. allies in the region with drones and missiles. On Monday, a British base in Cyprus was hit by a drone that Cypriot officials said was likely launched by Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
During a White House meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Trump vented frustration that the U.S. had not been able to land its military jets at Britain's strategically important air base, Diego Garcia.
"I'm not happy with the UK," Trump said, unprompted, during a portion of the meeting that was open to the press. "It's taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land. It would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours. So we are very surprised."
Trump had told the Telegraph on Monday that Starmer had appeared to be "worried about the legality" of the strikes on Iran.
Starmer has been criticized from all sides at home for the decision, with opponents on the left calling for him to condemn the military action. On the right, opposition leaders Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage attacked Starmer for failing to back Britain's key security and intelligence ally.
A 'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP' NO MORE?
Despite Trump's fraught relations with Europe overall, the Republican U.S. president and the center-left Labour leader had until recently maintained upbeat personal ties.
Britain has for decades prided itself on its relationship with the U.S., aided by leaders such as Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair cultivating strong relationships with their counterparts, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
The two countries' "special relationship" spans intelligence sharing and military coordination.
"It's very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was," Trump told the Sun newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday. He added that he never thought he would see Britain become a reluctant partner, and instead heaped praise on France and Germany.
Britain, France and Germany all released a joint statement in response to the Iranian attacks on Saturday, saying they were in close contact with the U.S., Israel and partners in the region, and were calling for a resumption of negotiations.
The Trump administration blessed a deal by the UK government to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago, which includes Diego Garcia, last year. But Trump abruptly changed course in January, calling the decision to give the Indian Ocean islands to Mauritius an act of "total weakness" and "great stupidity."
On Tuesday, Trump revisited that issue, saying that "the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have, that they gave away." The deal allows Britain to retain control of the Diego Garcia base under a 99-year lease.
LESSONS OF IRAQ
Starmer, a former lawyer, has defended his response, telling parliament on Monday he had to judge what was in Britain's national interest. "That is what I have done, and I stand by it," he said.
Polling published by YouGov on Tuesday showed that people in Britain were opposed to the U.S. strikes on Iran, 49% to 28%.
Senior minister Darren Jones said Britain had learned lessons from its involvement in the 2003 Iraq war, when it joined U.S. action to remove Saddam Hussein, which was justified on false claims that the country had weapons of mass destruction.
"One of the lessons of Iraq was that it's better to be involved in these situations when you are aligned with international partners, and as I say, with a clear legal basis in the plan," he said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington, and Kate Holton in London; Additional reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Aidan Lewi, Don Durfee and Andrea Ricci)
