Ex-Nato Commander Slams Trump As ‘Gung-Ho Nutter’ For Iran Bombing

A former Nato commander has urged Britain not to follow “gung-ho nutter” Donald Trump into war in the Middle East.

General Sir Richard Shirreff warned Sky News that the Americans’ lack of strategy following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran could have far-reaching consequences for anyone who gets involved.

Trump has lashed out at Keir Starmer after the prime minister hesitated over US requests to use British military bases to attack Iran.

The UK has since granted access for “limited” and defensive American strikes – and Iran has subsequently hit an RAF base in Cyprus.

Meanwhile, Trump and his top team are still yet to offer a comprehensive explanation for their attacks.

Former deputy supreme allied commander of Nato, Sir Richard suggested to Sky News that it was not wise for Britain to get involved in the war.

He said any idea of a “special relationship” between the UK and US does not exist, adding: “It is a complete fantasy. America does what America wants to do and Britain’s got to look after its interests.”

“Britain shooting drones, Britain engaging in offensive or defensive operations is invidious, frankly,” the former commander continued. “We should not in any way, shape or form, be involved with the Americans closely because they are being led by a couple of gung-ho nutters, like Trump and [US Secretary of War Pete] Hegseth, without a proper strategy, without serious thought about what end-state for this war is.”

“Unless we keep cool heads, as the prime minister is attempting to do, and think things through very very carefully this thing could go in the way of Iraq,” he said.

“Yet again we have an American president who has gone to war, a war of choice, a war of hubris frankly, without any clear idea of how the war ends, without a clear strategy.”

Starmer has so far managed to draw a distinctive line between the UK and the US’s aggression, even though Britain has just sent a warship to Cyprus.

After Trump said the prime minister was “no Winston Churchill”, Starmer said the US attacks on Iran were illegal and that the White House had no plan.

And on Thursday, the PM said Trump had plunged the region “into chaos”.

Similarly, Sir Richard said: “The Americans might be getting frightfully excited about sinking submarines, X number of missions bombing the Iranians to bits, but unless there’s a strategy, unless they have thought about what they are doing on the minds of the Iranian people, this thing is going to go south very quickly.”

He said: “The idea of assassinating the Ayatollah, Khamenei, not just Iran’s head of state but the religious symbol for Shiites worldwide during the month of Ramadan, is about as subtle as murdering the Pope on the steps of St Peter’s during holy week.

“It will enflame the Shiite world and what you’re doing by doing that is probably putting large numbers of Iranians who might have been reconcilable back into the folds of the irreconcilable.”

Share Button

Trump Mocks Starmer Over UK’s Response To Iran Bombing: ‘He’s Not Winston Churchill’

Donald Trump has mocked Keir Starmer over the UK’s response to the US-Israeli bombing of Iran.

The American president said “this is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with” after Starmer initially refused to let the US use British bases to launch their attacks amid concerns the strikes broke international law.

The PM eventually changed his mind after Iran began bombing countries across the Middle East, putting British lives at risk.

Trump’s Oval Office comments mark a new low in the so-called “special relationship” between America and the United Kingdom.

Referring to the UK military base at Diego Garcia, he said: “That island… It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land there, it would have been much more convenient landing there as opposed to flying many extra hours, so we are very surprised.

“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

<div class="js-react-hydrator" data-component-name="Twitter" data-component-id="1850" data-component-props="{"itemType":"rich","isLiveblogEmbed":false,"index":8,"contentIndexByType":1,"contentListType":"embed","code":"

🚨 WATCH: Donald Trump again attacks Keir Starmer and the UK’s immigration policy

\"The UK has been very, very uncooperative… they are ruining relationships, it’s a shame… windmills are ruining their country… you have Sharia courts adjudicating law\" pic.twitter.com/YctAFJde2Z

— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 3, 2026

","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Politics UK","author_url":"https://twitter.com/PolitlcsUK","cache_age":86400,"description":"🚨 WATCH: Donald Trump again attacks Keir Starmer and the UK’s immigration policy\"The UK has been very, very uncooperative… they are ruining relationships, it’s a shame… windmills are ruining their country… you have Sharia courts adjudicating law\" pic.twitter.com/YctAFJde2Z— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 3, 2026\n\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":748,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/2028884728707784705/img/H1OSX0qO-hlJHATH.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1342,"title":"Politics UK on Twitter / X","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/PolitlcsUK/status/2028886641323229651","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"uk","name":"U.K.","link":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk","locale":"en_GB"},"originalEdition":"uk","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isMobile":false,"isAdsFree":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"69a72183e4b0c9c664ad3743","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-mocks-keir-starmer-in-row-over-us-strikes-on-iran-hes-not-winston-churchill_uk_69a72183e4b0c9c664ad3743","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,keir-starmer,iran,breaking,@ai_seo_headline","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":null,"sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"isShopping":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"uk.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc140cf94592c45d7390c","disabledWithMapiEntries":false,"overrides":{"all":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4"},"whitelisted":["56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439","56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529","570278d2e4b070ff77b98217","57027b4be4b070ff77b98d5c","56fe95c4e4b0041c4242016b","570279cfe4b06d08e3629954","5ba9e8821c2e65639162ccf1","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e","5b35266b158f855373e28256","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2","60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","60d0de02b627221e9d819408"],"playlists":{"default":"57bc306888d2ff1a7f6b5579","news":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","politics":"56c6dbcee4b04edee8beb49c","entertainment":"56c6e7f2e4b0983aa64c60fc","tech":"56c6f70ae4b043c5bdcaebf9","parents":"56cc65c2e4b0239099455b42","lifestyle":"56cc66a9e4b01f81ef94e98c"},"playerUpdates":{"56c6056ee4b01f2b7e1b5f35":"60b8e525cdd90620331baaf4","56c5f12ee4b03a39c93c9439":"60d0d8e09340d7032ad0fb1a","59bfee7f9e451049f87f550b":"60d0d90f9340d7032ad0fbeb","5acccbaac269d609ef44c529":"60d0d9949340d7032ad0fed3","5bcd9904821576674bc55ced":"60d0d9f99340d7032ad10113","5d076ca127f25f504327c72e":"60d0daa69340d7032ad104cf","5ebac2e8abddfb04f877dff2":"60d0de02b627221e9d819408"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"16b0ecc6-802c-4120-845f-e90629812c4d","clickToPlayPlayer":"823ac03a-0f7e-4bcb-8521-a5b091ae948d","videoPagePlayer":"05041ada-93f7-4e86-9208-e03a5b19311b","defaultPlaylist":"2e062669-71b4-41df-b17a-df6b1616bc8f"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":5},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"69a72183e4b0c9c664ad3743","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-uk"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"news/donald-trump","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/donald-trump"},"section":{"title":"News","slug":"news"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/donald-trump/"},{"name":"keir starmer","slug":"keir-starmer","links":{"relativeLink":"news/keir-starmer","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/keir-starmer","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/keir-starmer"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/keir-starmer/"},{"name":"Iran","slug":"iran","links":{"relativeLink":"news/iran","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/iran","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/iran"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/iran/"},{"name":"breaking","slug":"breaking","links":{"relativeLink":"news/breaking","permalink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/breaking","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/breaking"},"url":"https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/breaking/"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"signInUrl":"https://login.huffpost.com/login?dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffpost.com%2Fentry%2Fdonald-trump-mocks-keir-starmer-in-row-over-us-strikes-on-iran-hes-not-winston-churchill_uk_69a72183e4b0c9c664ad3743%3Fhp_auth_done%3D1","cetUnit":"buzz_body","enableIncontentPlayer":true,"bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-1\", \"entry_paragraph_1\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline\", \"entry_paragraph_2\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-2\", \"entry_paragraph_3\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n HPGam.cmd.push(function(){\r\n\t\treturn HPGam.render(\"inline-infinite\", \"repeating_dynamic_display\", false, false);\r\n });\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0,"midArticleAdPartner":null},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

🚨 WATCH: Donald Trump again attacks Keir Starmer and the UK’s immigration policy

“The UK has been very, very uncooperative… they are ruining relationships, it’s a shame… windmills are ruining their country… you have Sharia courts adjudicating law” pic.twitter.com/YctAFJde2Z

— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) March 3, 2026

Trump’s comments are just latest criticism he has aimed at Starmer since America and Israel’s attacks on Iran began at the weekend.

In an interview with the Telegraph on Monday, the president said he was “very disappointed” in the PM.

That prompted Starmer to hit back in the Commons, telling MPs: “President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes.

“But it is my duty to judge what is in Britain’s national interest. That is what I’ve done, and I stand by it.”

In another dig at the US president, Starmer said: “This government does not believe in regime change from the skies.”

Trump responded in an interview with The Sun in which he said the PM “has not been helpful”.

“I never thought I’d see that,” he said. “I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”

He added: “It’s not going to matter, but [Starmer] should have helped… he should have.

“I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.”

Trump continued: “You’ve seen the secretary general of NATO, the great things he said, Mark Rutte, he’s great.

“No, they’ve all been pretty much great other than…we think Keir’s was just very different.”

The president said the spat over Iran meant “it’s just a much different kind of relationship that we’ve had with your country before”.

Share Button