United States President Donald Trump has posted on social media that he does not need the United Kingdom to deploy aircraft carriers to the Middle East, amid the ongoing war with Iran.
Saturday’s post on Truth Social follows a statement from the UK’s Ministry of Defence that one of its two flagship aircraft carriers, the HMS Prince of Wales, has been placed on “high readiness”.

“The United Kingdom, our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all, is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East,” Trump wrote.
“That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember. We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!”

The post, with its reference to the UK as a “once great ally”, signals a deepening rift between the two countries that has emerged since Trump returned to office last year.
On Sunday afternoon, Starmer’s office reported that the two leaders discussed the war during a phone call, following Trump’s apparent criticism.

“The leaders began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and US through the use of RAF (Royal Air Force) bases in support of the collective self-defence of partners in the region,” a spokesperson from Starmer’s office said in a statement.
The statement added that Starmer shared his “heartfelt condolences” with Trump over the deaths of US soldiers – now totalling seven in the conflict – and said that the two leaders “looked forward to speaking again soon”.