US President Donald Trump criticises outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer after Starmer announces he will resign as Labour leader, while remaining prime minister during an orderly transition. Speaking at an Oval Office event, Trump says Starmer “hurt himself very, very badly,” framing the resignation as the result of failures on domestic and international issues. He highlights disagreements over the UK’s energy policy, arguing that the UK should do more to use North Sea oil rather than rely on other sources and describing environmental policies as overly restrictive. Trump also points to immigration as a key area where he says Starmer failed, repeatedly pairing energy and immigration in his criticism.
On foreign policy, Trump says he and Starmer were not aligned enough on NATO and the Iran war, and he raises a specific clash involving the use of British military facilities in Cyprus. Trump says the UK took too long to approve US requests to use RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for strikes on Iranian targets, and he adds that Starmer eventually relented but that the initial delay “hurt him badly.” Several outlets report Trump had also predicted Starmer’s departure earlier via social media.
