Starmer dismisses ‘noise’ after Trump says he is considering pulling out of Nato

Sir Keir Starmer has dismissed Donald Trump’s comments as “noise” after the US president said he is considering pulling out of Nato.

Mr Trump, who also claimed the UK does not have a navy, hit out at allies for not joining his war with Iran.

Asked whether he would reconsider Nato membership, Mr Trump told The Telegraph: “Oh yes, I would say (it’s) beyond reconsideration.”

He added: “I was never swayed by Nato. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.”

Asked about the US president’s comments on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: “Firstly, Nato is the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen, and it has kept us safe for many decades, and we are fully committed to Nato.

“Secondly, that whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I’m going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions that I make.

“And that’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our war and we’re not going to get dragged into it.

“But I’m equally clear that, when it comes to defence and security and our economic future, we have to have closer ties with Europe. That’s why we had the summit last year.

“This year, as I’ve just announced, there’ll be a further summit. There, we will make good on equipment that we put in place last year, but we will also go further in relation to the alignment.”

In an interview published on Wednesday, Mr Trump criticised Nato allies for refusing to send warships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has closed for weeks, causing oil and gas prices to spike.

The US president said: “Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey’, you know, I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic.

“We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us.”

Mr Trump rebuked the UK in particular for refusing to get involved in the US-Israeli war against Iran, and suggested the Royal Navy was not ready.

He said: “You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work.”

Asked if the Prime Minister should spend more on defence, Mr Trump said: “I’m not going to tell him what to do. He can do whatever he wants. It doesn’t matter. All Starmer wants is costly windmills that are driving your energy prices through the roof.”