Trump’s sneering dismissal of Britain exposes his contempt for allies, while Tony Blair’s attack on Keir Starmer reveals the same reckless, pro-war instinct that helped drag Britain into the disaster of Iraq
Tony Blair has rebuked Keir Starmer for his lack of support for Donald Trump’s war on Iran, telling the Prime Minister: “We should have backed America from the very beginning”(Image: Getty Images)
There was a time when the phrase “Special Relationship” meant something more than a diplomatic slogan. It meant shared sacrifice, mutual respect and the understanding that when Britain and America disagreed, they did so privately.
Donald Trump has now trampled all over that tradition. His latest outburst could hardly have been clearer. The UK, he declared, may be “our once great ally”, but America doesn’t need British aircraft carriers because the United States has “already won” the war. He added that Washington would “remember” Britain’s hesitation.
It was not merely crude. It was historically illiterate.
The United Kingdom has fought beside the United States in every major conflict for decades – from the Gulf War to Afghanistan and Iraq. British troops died alongside American soldiers in those wars. To suggest Britain turns up only “after we’ve already won” is not just wrong. It is an insult to the memory of those who fought and died in joint operations.
Trump described Keir Starmer as ‘not Winston Churchill’ for initially denying him permission to launch strikes on Iran from UK territory(Image: SAUL LOEB, AFP via Getty Images)
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But Trump has never had much patience for alliances or history. His worldview is brutally simple: relationships exist only as long as they serve his immediate interests. Loyalty, gratitude, shared values – the very things that built the Western alliance after 1945 – simply do not feature.
What makes this episode even more extraordinary is that Britain is already supporting the United States. The UK has allowed American forces to use British bases for operations linked to the conflict with Iran. Yet Trump still chooses to publicly belittle the country that hosts those bases and has stood shoulder to shoulder with the US in war after war.
It is the behaviour not of a statesman but of a man who treats international alliances like a reality television feud. Yet if Trump’s remarks were predictable, the response from Tony Blair has been far more troubling.
Instead of defending Britain’s position, the former prime minister has chosen this moment to attack Keir Starmer for not backing Trump’s military campaign against Iran quickly enough.
The same Tony Blair who led Britain into the Iraq War now lectures others about the need to line up behind American power.
The irony is almost unbearable.
Blair’s own legacy is inseparable from one of the most controversial decisions in modern British foreign policy. The Iraq invasion, justified at the time with claims of weapons of mass destruction that never materialised, shattered trust in government and cost countless lives.
Tony Blair has repeatedly defended backing the US into the war in Iraq(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Yet here he is again, urging Britain to move faster when Washington launches another war in the Middle East. Even more astonishing is Blair’s current role on Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace”. The title alone is almost comic. Trump, a man who casually insults allies, boasts about military victories and treats war as a personal scorecard, is presiding over a body dedicated to peace.
And Tony Blair is sitting on it.
If ever there was a symbol of how warped Western politics has become, that might be it. What Mr Blair seems not to grasp is that Trump’s rhetoric is not just an insult to Britain. It is a warning about the future of American foreign policy. For 80 years, the United States has built its global leadership on alliances. NATO, intelligence sharing, joint military planning – these are not sentimental relics. They are the foundations of Western security.
Trump’s message is something very different. Allies are useful only when they obey immediately. Hesitate, ask legal questions, or simply refuse to join the first wave of a conflict, and suddenly you are a “once great ally”. This is not how alliances work. It is how empires behave.
Starmer’s caution, whatever one thinks of it politically, was grounded in a simple principle: Britain should not be dragged blindly into military action without considering legality, consequences and national interest. After the catastrophe of Iraq, that is not weakness. It is common sense.
Which brings us back to Blair.
Perhaps the most depressing aspect of this moment is not Trump’s predictable bombast but the sight of a former British prime minister effectively echoing it. Instead of defending Britain’s independence, he has chosen to scold a sitting prime minister for not falling into line quickly enough.
Sir Keir justified his initial refusal to back the US on the grounds he did not believe in ‘regime change from the skies'(Image: Getty Images)
That is precisely the mentality that led Britain into disaster two decades ago. The truth is that the Special Relationship has never depended on unquestioning obedience. At its best, it has been a partnership between two sovereign countries capable of disagreeing while still respecting each other.
Trump clearly has little interest in that kind of relationship. To him, alliances are subordinate arrangements in which others fall in behind American decisions.
Britain should not accept that role. And Tony Blair, of all people, should remember the consequences of what happens when British leaders do.