Trump Provides Bizarre Reason For Keir Starmer Quitting As PM

Donald Trump has come up with a bizarre reason for Keir Starmer’s decision to resign as prime minister.

The US president suggested that Starmer’s decision for the UK not to get involved in the Iran war was “very unpopular” and led to him quitting.

The outgoing PM announced last month that he would be stepping down after admitting Labour MPs did not want him to lead them into the next general election.

However, his replacement – widely expected to be Makerfield MP Andy Burnham – will not get the keys to No.10 until July 20, so Starmer is still representing Britain on the world stage at this week’s Nato summit.

Speaking at the summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump once again accused Nato of failing to back America in Iran.

“I was very disappointed with Nato,” the president began. “We weren’t treated well because we did something in Iran.

“We don’t need anybody’s help, but before I asked they said they wouldn’t be there.”

Trump tried to get the UK to let American jets use RAF bases to launch offensive strikes on Tehran earlier this year.

Starmer refused, only permitting their use for defensive attacks on missile depots and rocket launchers.

He also rejected Trump’s call to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz amid Iran’s blockade of the major waterway.

Trump added: “In the case of the United Kingdom, the prime minister, I guess he’s no longer there, maybe because of this, it was a very unpopular thing he did.

“He said ‘no we’ll help after the war is over’. I said ‘we don’t need that kind of help’.”

Starmer actually enjoyed a popularity boost over his response to Trump’s war in Iran while British voters’ trust in America fell, according to polls.

The president also renewed his criticism that Nato allies do not spend enough on defence and are too reliant on the US.

He said: “Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them.”

Nato’s mutual defence clause has only ever been triggered in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on New York, where allies joined US troops in Afghanistan.

Starmer has come under some criticism for not spending enough on defence, though.

Starmer’s recent Defence Investment Plan (DIP) did not outline any pathway for how the government plans to hit its target of spending 3.5% of national income on defence by 2035.

Starmer insisted that, once security spending is added, Britain will be spending 4.2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by then.

That still falls short of the pledge all Nato allies made last year to increase defence-related spending to 5% of GDP by the middle of the next decade.

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