President Donald Trump sharply criticized the United Kingdom over its lack of support for the United States during the ongoing war with Iran, telling a British interviewer that her country is “not doing very well.”
Trump delivered the blunt assessment during an interview with GB News host Bev Turner that is scheduled to air in full Thursday night.
The exchange occurred during a discussion about whether the United States would assist the U.K. in a dispute concerning the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. Trump responded by turning the focus toward Britain’s absence from the U.S.-led effort involving the Strait of Hormuz.
“Your country is not doing very well,” Trump told Turner.
“Your country is not doing well. Don’t forget you get a big percentage of your oil from the Strait of Hormuz, and you weren’t there to help me. Your country was not there to help me,” the president said.
Trump repeatedly emphasized that Britain had not joined the American effort, though he maintained that the United States did not require assistance.
“We didn’t need help, but I did ask NATO, and I asked your former leader, ‘Why didn’t you send a couple of ships?’” Trump said.
According to the president, the former British leader responded that the country did not have ships available to contribute.
“He said we don’t have any, and it was pretty sad, the whole thing,” Trump said.
The president broadened his criticism to include NATO, arguing that alliance members declined to participate despite receiving substantial amounts of oil through the strategically important waterway.
“So NATO was not there, even though they get — most of those countries get — a big portion of their oil from there,” Trump said. “So we’re doing that by ourselves.”
Trump said the absence of support from Britain and other NATO countries did not leave him feeling “hurt.” Instead, he described the situation as an “education process.”
The president has repeatedly claimed that the United States controls the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran continues and terror groups keep targeting ships traveling through the waterway.
In a Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump said the United States had achieved “almost total control” of the strait. He also encouraged the Iranian people to “rise up and fight.”
Trump used the message to reject a report that he was attempting to pressure Iran into returning to negotiations.
“I’m not trying to force Iran to the bargaining table, as ABC Fake News reported,” Trump wrote.
The president said he had no interest in Iran signing an agreement that it would consider meaningless, arguing that the current American position was preferable.
“I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement,” Trump wrote. “I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing.”
Trump added that Iran was merely delaying what he viewed as an unavoidable outcome before again calling on its population to act.
“They are just playing out the inevitable,” he wrote. “When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?”
