FEATURE | UK’s weak showing in Iran conflict deepens doubts about military effectiveness

Trump criticism may not alter cooperation

Former diplomats, a current official and analysts said although Trump was clearly angry with Britain, they did not see his latest remarks - when he said Starmer was "no Winston Churchill" - as a fundamental shift in policy.

Michael Martins, who worked at London's US embassy in Trump's first term, said he did not expect the two countries to "decouple meaningfully" when they work closely on intelligence.

A U. official said he saw the criticism as "a moment, not a shift", and Starmer himself said the US-British "special relationship" was reflected in their deep levels of cooperation, not in the latest words of the president.

But the widening conflict in the Middle East means it is not just the US which is looking for Britain to do more.

Bader Al-Saif, an associate fellow at Chatham House based in Kuwait, said European countries needed to show they could support their gulf allies when needed.

"I'm not saying that they should join the war effort, but I think they have vested partners in the region, including the gulf states, which they can offer support to," he said.

(Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in ​Nicosia and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Alex Richardson)