U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at Britain and Spain for not fully backing U.S. strikes on Iran, threatening to end “all trade” with Spain and accusing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being uncooperative.

“I’m not happy with the UK,” Trump said at the White House, adding of Starmer, “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”

Britain, a close U.S. ally through the world wars and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, declined to join the assault on Iran that Trump launched with Israel on Saturday.

Limited base access

Starmer said U.S. fighter jets could use two British air bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose” — one in Gloucestershire in western England and the other at the joint U.K.-U.S. base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

But Starmer said Washington was not authorized to use U.K. bases in Cyprus, one of which was later struck by an Iranian-made drone.

“It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land. There would have been a much more convenient landing there, as opposed to flying many extra hours,” Trump said, in apparent reference to Diego Garcia.

Trump also criticized Starmer over an agreement to return the Chagos Islands, where Diego Garcia is located and whose people were expelled by Britain, to Mauritius while leasing back the base.

“I will say the UK has been very, very uncooperative with that stupid island that they have,” Trump said as he stood beside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Spain in Trump’s sights

Trump also voiced fury at Spain, where the left-wing government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has not allowed the United States to launch attacks on Iran from bases long used by U.S. forces.

“Spain has been terrible,” Trump said, adding that he asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings with Spain.”

He also pointed to Sánchez’s public refusal to join NATO allies in pledging to boost defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product, a level Trump argues is necessary because the United States bears too much of the alliance’s burden.

“So we’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” Trump said.

It remains unclear what authority Trump would have to end trade with Spain after the Supreme Court struck down his use of emergency powers to impose tariffs on other countries.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares earlier said Spain would allow use of Naval Base Rota and Morón Air Base only for activities consistent with the United Nations Charter.