DONALD Trump last night slammed PM Sir Keir Starmer’s “terrible” failure to send warships to the Middle East.
The US President said he was “not happy” with Britain’s reluctance to deploy troops to the region — as splits over the Iran war threw the Special Relationship into fresh crisis.
As the conflict raged on, flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai’s international airport yesterday during a huge blaze there after a “drone-related incident”.
Mr Trump’s onslaught came just hours after the PM reiterated his refusal to allow UK troops to be sucked into another war alongside the Americans.
Mr Trump has urged allies to provide military reinforcements to the Strait of Hormuz in a bid to reopen the crucial shipping lane that is being choked off by Tehran.
Sir Keir was last night refusing to confirm whether he would agree to the White House demands, and would only say he was thrashing out a “viable collective plan” with the Europeans.
Relations between the two men were already in turmoil after the PM initially refused to let US warplanes use UK bases to strike Iran, and over the subsequent non-deployal of an aircraft carrier.
The President yesterday used a press conference to criticise countries that benefit from American security but are refusing to get involved in his and Israel’s war on Iran.
He said: “I’ve been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they won’t be there, not all of them, but they won’t be there.
“I was very surprised with the United Kingdom, because the United Kingdom two weeks ago, I said, ‘Why don’t you send some ships over?’ And he [Sir Keir] really didn’t want to do it.
“I said, ‘You don’t want to do it? We’ve been with you. You’re our oldest ally, and we spend a lot of money on Nato and all of these things, to protect you.’
“We’re protecting them. We’re working with them on Ukraine. Ukraine’s thousands of miles away, separated by a vast ocean.
“We don’t have to do that. We did it, well Biden did it.”
Mr Trump added: “We don’t need to work with them in Ukraine. And then they tell us that we can mine sweep around and they don’t want to do it. I think it’s terrible.”
The President claimed Sir Keir told him in a Sunday phone call he would have to consult with his No 10 “team” before deciding whether to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
He said he responded with derision: “You don’t need to meet with the team. You’re the Prime Minister.
“Why do you have to meet with your team to find out whether or not you send some mine sweepers?”
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz — where 20 per cent of global oil supplies are transported — has sent energy prices shooting up in Britain.
Mr Trump’s comments come after the PM yesterday said he was working with European partners on a “viable plan” to reopen the crucial shipping waterway in the Gulf.
Its effective closure has already sent the price of oil shooting up above $100 a barrel and sparked fears of rising bills for households.
Sir Keir said: “Ultimately, we have to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, ensure stability in the market.
“That is not a simple task, so we are working with all of our allies, including our European partners, to bring together a viable collective plan that can restore freedom of navigation in the region as quickly as possible and ease the economic impacts.”
Asked whether he would send warships to help reopen the Strait, the PM said Britain was “not at a point of decisions yet”.
He stressed it will have to “be something which is agreed by as many partners as possible”.
The UK already has military assets in the region, including crewless robotic mine-hunting systems designed to clear explosives from shipping lanes.
But it is unclear whether the Royal Navy currently has any mine-sweeping ships available to deploy to the Gulf.
Setting out his approach to the conflict earlier in the speech, Sir Keir said Britain had three priorities.
He said: “First, we will protect our people in the region.
“Second, while taking the necessary action to defend ourselves and our allies, we will not be drawn into the wider war.
“And third, we will keep working towards a swift resolution that brings security and stability back to the region and stops the Iranian threat to its neighbours.”
Mr Trump said that other nations who depend on the waterway should take responsibility for helping reopen it.
In another dig at Britain, he said: “Numerous countries have told me they’re on the way. Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren’t.”
He said French President Emmanuel Macron had been an “eight out of ten” in his support for the US.
Mr Trump had warned earlier it would be “very bad for the future of Nato” if allies do not help secure the shipping route.
But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said yesterday that Nato should not be obliged to back up the US in its Iran war.
Sir Keir’s relationship with Mr Trump has soured in recent weeks over their diverging position on the conflict.
The PM yesterday used a press conference to say his “values” are the same that saw him oppose the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Earlier this month, Mr Trump said Sir Keir was “no Winston Churchill”, although No 10 sources insist the two men still have a constructive relationship.
The PM said in a social media message he has been “attacked by some for my decision not to join the offensive against Iran.
“But at every stage I have stood by my principles that our decision should be based on a calm, level-headed assessment of the British national interest.”
In addition to the flames in Dubai, the UAE’s biggest port and oil storage facility, Fujairah, also came under drone attacks as Iran targeted Gulf transport and oil infrastructure.
But heavy overnight bombing was reported in Tehran, flattening a residential building, as the Israel Defence Forces said it began attacks on the “infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime”.
Meanwhile, a direct communications channel between the US and Iran has also been reactivated in recent days, it has been reported.
The channel between Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has reopened, an official said.
It is the first direct communication between the two countries since the war started more than two weeks ago.
