A top adviser to Donald Trump said: 'Sometimes the response back, the reciprocity... is a little bit lacking.'

08:29, Wed, Mar 11, 2026 Updated: 08:30, Wed, Mar 11, 2026

PM Sir Keir Starmer

PM Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)

Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East has criticised the UK amid a growing rift between the transatlantic allies. Steve Witkoff accused Britain of a “lack of gratitude” days after the US President voiced his disappointment with Sir Keir Starmer’s support during the Iran war, saying the Prime Minister is “no Winston Churchill”.

Mr Trump has claimed the so-called UK-US special relationship is “not what it used to be” after a fallout over American warplanes being able to use British bases to launch strikes against Iran. Mr Witkoff, one of the US President’s top advisers, admitted the relationship between the two leaders has been fractured. He said he hoped they could “repair” their “good, solid” rapport.

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (Image: Getty)

Mr Witkoff was pressed over whether the PM had damaged the ‘special relationship’ and delivered a damning assessment of both the UK and Europe’s reliance on Washington.

Speaking to GB News, he said: "Sometimes we detect that there's not that feeling of gratitude.

"The President's position is that we do plenty for Europe, plenty for the UK in trade, defence and the support we give to NATO.

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"The speed at which the Type 45 destroyer is getting out to sea has sparked alarm over UK readiness and the state of the Armed Forces.Sometimes the response back, the reciprocity... is a little bit lacking. I would leave it at that."

He also said the deployment of a Royal Navy warship to the Eastern Mediterranean was “too little, too late”, echoing comments made by Mr Trump.

The speed at getting the Type 45 destroyer out to sea has sparked alarm over UK readiness and the state of the Armed Forces.

The ship is being sent to help protect British military personnel stationed on Cyprus after an RAF base there was struck by a drone.

However, the warship might not arrive in the region until next week — more than two weeks after RAF Akrotiri was hit.

The UK was also considering sending one of its aircraft carriers to the region, prompting another slapdown from Mr Trump.

“We don’t need them any longer,” he wrote on Truth Social, describing the UK as “our once Great Ally, maybe the Greatest of them all”.

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America said it had “eliminated” a number of Iranian vessels, including 16 minelayers, near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

It came as US defence secretary Pete Hegseth warned it would be the "most intense" day of strikes so far.