Trump hits out at UK as he’s asked about defending NATO – ‘Not in the spirit of Churchill’ | World | News
US President Donald Trump has once again slammed Britain and its role during the war with Iran, saying his administration’s response to London’s support for Britain during the conflict was “not in the spirit of Churchill”. Mr. Trump’s remarks came after a journalist asked him during the NATO summit in Türkiye whether the United States would intervene to help a NATO country under attack.
He said: “Spain was very bad, Italy was good, almost all the countries were good, they just had a bad moment. They didn’t help us, we didn’t need their help.” He claimed that he was told by an unnamed country that they would prefer to stay on the sidelines if the US requested support in its military operation against Iran. After saying he “didn’t like that answer,” he continued: “England gave a slightly strange answer. ‘Do you want to help?’ I said. They said, ‘We are in, but we want to wait until the war is over.’ “This was not in the spirit of Winston Churchill.”
Despite apparent criticism from Western allies, Mr. Trump appeared to support the NATO alliance, saying: “If there’s one word coming out today it’s ‘unification.’ I’ve never seen anything like it. Every single one of these countries loves us, they love each other. It was a tremendous merger.”
Mr. Trump did not directly answer the reporter’s question about the United States defending its NATO allies in the event of an attack.
Weeks before the summit, Mr. Trump had again lashed out at Britain’s initial refusal to allow Washington to use British bases to launch attacks on Iran at the beginning of the war.
In March, Mr Trump claimed Prime Minister Keir Starmer took “too long” to allow US forces to use British air bases.
He had previously said, “The person we are dealing with is not Winston Churchill.”
Earlier this year, Mr Trump also said he was “not happy” with Britain’s response to the Iran conflict. In March, the US President lashed out after Mr Starmer, under pressure to send Royal Navy ships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, insisted Britain would not be “drawn into a wider war”.
During the last NATO summit, Mr. Trump reignited U.S. claims to Greenland, whose sovereignty belongs to NATO ally Denmark.
Mr Stamer, who attended what was probably his last major international event as Prime Minister, said after the Ankara summit that NATO was “stronger and more united”. The Prime Minister said the leaders had “achieved what we wanted to achieve, which is unity”.
NATO leaders discussed defense investments, defense industry and support for Ukraine. Making progress towards achieving NATO’s historic 5% defense investment plan was an important issue.
Secretary General Mark Rutte said: “The task ahead is clear: turning Allied commitments into concrete results. Increased investment, industrial production and continued support for Ukraine. All this contributes to a stronger NATO and greater security for all of us.” he said.
