British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has accused Donald Trump of trying to pressure the UK on security issues, in yet another sign of how the US president's demands for Greenland are tearing apart the transatlantic alliance, reports "Bloomberg".
Starmer used his weekly question time in the House of Commons to deliver some of his strongest criticism yet of Britain's most powerful ally. The British prime minister told members of parliament that Trump's criticism of plans to transfer sovereignty to a joint base in the Indian Ocean was aimed at "the express purpose of putting pressure on me and the UK" to accept the US claim to Greenland.
"He wants me to back down, but I won't," Starmer said.
Trump has threatened the UK and other European countries with tariffs for siding with Denmark against his plans for Greenland. This week, he also criticized Britain's agreement to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, home to the Diego Garcia military base, to Mauritius, despite having previously approved the deal.
"The UK's ceding of vital land is an act of great folly and is yet another in a very long line of national security reasons why Greenland should be acquired," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump's change of heart came after Starmer denounced the president's threats of new tariffs against the UK and other European countries for their support for Greenland's territorial integrity as "totally wrong".
Trump announced 10% tariffs on goods from eight European countries, including the US, effective February 1. They will rise to 25% in June unless a deal is reached to "buy Greenland" - a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally and a member of the EU.