SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP?

Sulking Trump, 79, Issues Major Threat to Ally Who Hurt His Feelings

The leader has refused to help the president with his war in Iran.

President Donald Trump has threatened to renege on a favorable trade deal with the U.K., after the country’s leader refused to back his war in Iran.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer initially got into Trump’s crosshairs when he refused to let U.S. war planes use British bases in Cyprus, an island in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Syria and Lebanon. Trump’s apparent contempt for Starmer then deepened when the former lawyer refused to help with a U.S. Navy blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Trump was clearly still stewing over being rejected by Starmer twice when Sky News reporter Mark Stone called his cellphone. In the resulting interview, published Wednesday, Trump threatened to backtrack on the trade deal struck with the U.K. in the wake of his “Liberation Day” blitz last April.

“We gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed,” Trump warned. Stone later revealed more details of the interview, saying the president sounded like he pitied the U.K., claiming that he agreed to the deal because “they’re having a lot of problems.”

The pact, signed in June, exempts the U.K.’s civil aerospace sector from Trump’s baseline 10 percent tariffs. It also slashes U.S. tariffs on U.K. auto exports from 27.5 percent to just 10. However, in February, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs.

When the deal was rubber-stamped, Trump said the U.K. was “well protected” because “I like them, that’s why, that’s their ultimate protection.”

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He struck a decidedly different tone in the Sky News interview. “With who?” he responded when asked about the special relationship. He then said it was in a “sad” state.

Trump said he still likes Starmer, but turned his fire toward his policies. He used language that might be familiar to political opponents at home.

“I love your country, and I would love to see it succeed. But if you have bad immigration policies and bad energy policies, you have the worst of both. You can’t succeed, not possible,” Trump said.

Immigration in the U.K. is a lightning rod issue, as it is in the U.S. Starmer, from the left-wing Labour Party, has also limited oil drilling in the North Sea, apparently prompting Trump’s annoyance in doing so.

Despite his apparent tension with the prime minister, Trump indicated that he still favors King Charles III, who is set to visit Washington, D.C., at the end of the month.

“He’s a great gentleman, a friend of mine. He’s a fantastic person,” he said.

Stone said he finds it “extraordinary” that he can pick up the phone and call the president. He explained the “unorthodox” process, where the calls are not arranged and are accepted or rejected at the president’s whim.

The reporter said Trump agreed that Stone could record their call, but added that the president requested he not publish the audio.

The Daily Beast has contacted White House and the British government for comment.

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