Arm wrestling. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday that he would not “would not give in” to pressure from Washington to drag the United Kingdom into war against Iran, despite threats from Donald Trump to call into question the bilateral trade agreement. Asked in Parliament about the American declarations, the head of government was categorical: “We are not going to get dragged into this war. This is not our war and there was a lot of pressure put on me to take another path. » Before adding: “I’m not going to change my mind. I will not give in. »
In an interview with Sky News, Donald Trump raised his voice, raising the possibility of returning to the trade agreement concluded last year with London to limit the impact of American customs duties. “We gave them a good trade deal, better than I was forced to do, and that can always be changed.”he declared, deploring the lack of British support since the start of the conflict.
A previous pass of arms
If the American president had praised his good relations with Keir Starmer in the past, transatlantic ties have since become strained, particularly on the military issue. The British Prime Minister thus refused to authorize the use of British bases during the first American strikes against Iran. London subsequently acceded to a request from Washington, but within a strictly regulated framework, authorizing the use of two military bases solely for “specific and limited defensives”.
Donald Trump did not hide his annoyance: “When we asked them for help they weren’t there, when we needed them they weren’t there (…). And they’re still not there.”he insisted on Sky News. On the economic front, the agreement concluded last year made it possible to cap American customs duties on most British manufactured products at 10%, the lowest level granted to a third country. But this advantage has diminished since the US Supreme Court invalidated part of the surcharges, pushing Washington to introduce a temporary 10% customs duty on almost all imports, pending a new regime by July.
An upcoming visit from Trump
Long keen to spare its historic ally, the British government has recently toughened its tone. The Minister of Finance, Rachel Reeves, who is due to meet US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday in Washington, denounced the day before the “madness” of a war “without a clear exit plan”. Keir Starmer himself criticized Donald Trump’s threats on Monday to “destroy civilization” in Iran. His Minister of Health had already castigated language on Sunday “inflammatory, provocative and scandalous”.
Despite these tensions, the American president assured that the situation would not “absolutely none” impact on King Charles III’s state visit to the United States, scheduled for later this month. The British Prime Minister, for his part, wanted to put the crisis into perspective, believing that relations between London and Washington were “much stronger” that “those responsible who are called, at one time or another, to exercise this or that function”.
