PM pushes back after Trump’s threats to leave alliance and says European members must do more in light of Iran war
Keir Starmer has said it is in the best interests of the US to stay in Nato and that Europe must do more to support the alliance in light of the war in Iran.
The British prime minister, speaking at the end of a multi-stop trip around the Gulf to discuss the tentative ceasefire and options to fully reopen the commercially vital strait of Hormuz, pushed back against Donald Trump’s threats to leave the defence alliance.
The US president has repeatedly criticised European members of Nato, which largely disagreed with the attacks on Iran, for not participating more fully in the strikes, including a threat to pull Washington out of the alliance altogether.
Starmer, speaking in Qatar at the end of a trip during which he also met leaders in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, agreed with Trump’s calls for European members of Nato to spend more on defence, while insisting it was in the interests of the US to stay in the alliance.
