UK PM Rebukes Trump Threats as ‘Completely Wrong’ From an Ally (Full Speech)

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer took a stand against President Donald Trump’s threats of new tariffs on European nations and said they would damage the British economy.

“The use of tariffs against allies is completely wrong,” he said at a Monday-morning press conference called in response to Trump’s announcement of new levies over the weekend. “A trade war is in no one’s interests,” he said, warning: “Such measures hurt British workers, British businesses and the British economy.”

Starmer doubled down on his support for Denmark over Trump’s claims to Greenland. “There is a principle here that cannot be set aside because it goes to the heart of how stable and trusted international cooperation works,” he said.

Starmer spoke to Trump by phone on Sunday afternoon, after holding calls with Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Trump deepened his rift with European allies on Saturday when he announced on the social media site Truth Social that he would levy a 10% tariff from Feb. 1 on eight nations, including the UK, for supporting Denmark’s territorial integrity over Greenland. He threatened to raise that to 25% in June unless a deal is reached.

Trump claimed recent European commitments to send military personnel to the territory for “purposes unknown” amounted to playing a “dangerous game,” despite repeatedly calling on the continent to do more to bolster Arctic security.

He has also repeatedly insisted that taking control of Greenland is vital to US national security against the threats posed by Russia and China. Greenland is rich in critical minerals, and could become an increasingly important destination as melting ice opens up new shipping routes.

However, in a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Trump linked his designs on Greenland to not being awarded the Nobel Peace Price.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump wrote in the letter obtained by Bloomberg.

Starmer used his press statement to defend a strategy of trying to manage Trump through diplomatic efforts, aiming a swipe at “gesture politics.” He explained that Britain could not break with the US because of its inter-connectedness on defense, nuclear and security policy.

Yet, while the speech amounted to a defense of that pragmatic approach, Starmer remained closely focused on his domestic audience and referred to “values” and “principles” at least 20 times over the course of a short event, as he seeks to restore his dire poll ratings.

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