Trump criticises UK Prime Minister Starmer over Diego Garcia base access

US President Donald Trump has expressed sharp criticism of British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the government’s initial refusal to allow US forces to use the Chagos Islands base at Diego Garcia for strikes on Iran.

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Starmer’s hesitation, calling it unprecedented in the history of US–UK relations.

Britain had denied the US permission to conduct strikes from bases such as Diego Garcia and RAF Fairford, citing international law. However, the Prime Minister relented on Sunday night and said he would allow the US access to Diego Garcia for “specific and limited defensive purposes”.

Mr Trump said Sir Keir “took far too long” to change his mind.

“That’s probably never happened between our countries before,” he told The Telegraph, adding: “It sounds like he was worried about the legality.”

The row over Diego Garcia led the president to withdraw his support for the Prime Minister’s controversial Chagos deal to hand over ownership of the Indian Ocean territory to Mauritius and instead lease back the military base.

Mr Trump told The Telegraph: “All of a sudden [Mauritius] was claiming ownership. He should have fought it out and owned it or make him take it, if you want to know the truth. But no, we were very disappointed in Keir.”

Two days into the US strikes on Iran, the president said the operation was “well ahead of schedule”.

Mr Trump suggested Sir Keir should have always approved American use of Diego Garcia, because Iran was responsible for killing “a lot of people from your country”.