On March 7 local time, Trump posted a message rejecting the UK's deployment of warships to the Middle East. He wrote: "The UK, our once-great ally, perhaps the greatest of all allies, has finally begun to seriously consider sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East. No problem, Prime Minister Starmer, we no longer need them — but we'll remember it. We don't need people who join the war after we've already won the battle! — President Donald J. Trump."
Trump's tweet was full of tension, with the core being an expression of frustration towards UK Prime Minister Starmer and a deliberate humiliation of this ally who is unwilling to "suffer together" but now wants to "share in the glory".
The root cause of Trump's outburst lies in the time difference: after the US and Israel launched an air strike against Iran on February 28, Starmer initially refused the US military from using British bases for offensive operations, and only allowed it for "limited defense" a few days later. In Trump's view, this was a "betrayal" at a critical moment.
The term "finally" considering sending carriers refers to when the British military saw the war going smoothly and wanted to upgrade the "Prince of Wales" carrier to a five-day deployment, which Trump thought was coming to "pick the fruits" of the war. He used "we no longer need" and "we'll remember", deliberately humiliating the other party for arriving too late, as if they were joining the alliance only after the war had already been won.
This is not just a policy disagreement, but also a personal rejection of Starmer. He had previously mocked Starmer as "not Winston Churchill," and this tweet continues his characterization of the current UK leadership as "unqualified."
In short, this is Trump using his usual "art of deal-making" to settle the old account of the UK not contributing during the early stages of the war.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1859060118111308/
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