Trump and Starmer speak after president's social media attack on prime minister

Let's pick up then on that call between uh President Trump and the UK Prime Minister Karmama. Our correspondent Amanda Akas joins us now live from Downing Street this hour. And just just reading the the readout, what what do you make of the potential tone of this conversation given they haven't spoken for a few days? >> Well, yes, it seems the two of them haven't spoken directly for more than a week. The last call that they had was on Saturday evening, the day of the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel. Um that was a very brief call. We were just told that they discussed the Middle East and some of the efforts the UK was making to help defends allies in the region. This is a lot more detailed. Um so we understand that they spoke for about 20 minutes this afternoon. Uh we're told they began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and the US through the use of RAF bases in support of the collective self-defense of partners in the region. The prime minister also shared his heartfelt condolences with President Trump and the American people following the deaths of six US soldiers. They look forward to speaking again soon. Um, so that sounds a lot more of a kind of normal style readout with that fairly cordial ending to it, promising to speak again soon than what we had in the very brief notes that were released uh last time. So I think Downing Street will be relieved that they've at least had this phone call. Um clearly we haven't really been g given any details about the precise nature of that conversation which you would imagine would have been pretty awkward and indeed uh confrontational given the fact that the the only communication that there seems to have been directly between uh President Trump and Prime Minister Stalmer over the past week is insults really. We had President Trump describing STAM as no Winston Churchill, describing the UK's decision not to um allow the US to use its air bases and those initial attacks as very disappointing even though later Sakir Starama did soften that stance and say that they could use them uh for defensive activities and we've seen those um US bombers arriving at RAF Fairford over this weekend as well. And then of course last night there was this absolutely extraordinary withering scornful broadside posted by Donald Trump on his truth social platform which really I think showed quite how angry and personally affronted he was by this decision by Sakir star. He clearly feels quite let down by the UK over all of this saying that the UK is our once great ally of the US and saying we don't need people that join wars we've already won. Um so clearly that has put the prime minister in a difficult position given how much time and effort he spent trying to cultivate a close relationship uh with the US. He clearly believes it's very important but at the same time he also clearly um has made it clear he believes in the importance of international law and said he doesn't believe in regime change from the skies. So he's made his own position on the UK's national interest as he sees it quite clear. >> Okay. And all this comes as we hear from the Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davyy calling on the prime minister to cancel the king's scheduled state visit to the United States in April. I mean tell us more about his thinking as rationale behind this and any potential response or reaction from Westminster. >> Yeah, so this is a very punchy intervention from the Liberal Democrats. In a way, it's no surprise because Ed Davyy has always been exceedingly critical of Donald Trump. He boycotted uh the last Trump state visit to the UK. didn't go to that banquet he was invited to at Windsor Castle. And he's always really been calling for the government to stand up to Donald Trump and end the reliance on the so-called special relationship. Now, it's interesting because actually what we've seen from the government over the past week is actually them taking a bit more of a liberal democrat approach in terms of not going ahead um not going along with everything that the US wanted. But clearly the Lib Dems have decided to go a step further now. Um and really quite striking language from them saying that the state visit should be called off at a time when Trump has launched an illegal war that's devastating the Middle East and pushing up energy bills for British families. It's clear this visit should not go ahead. A state visit from our keen our king would be seen as yet another huge diplomatic coup for President Trump. So it should not be given to someone who repeatedly insults and damages our country. Um it's interesting isn't it because I think on the one hand there will be people advising Saky Starama to go further. Um indeed, as the Liberal Democrats are saying, not to reward Donald Trump for the way he's been um talking about the UK. At the same time, making such an announcement would clearly only um add oil to the flames of this situation. And I think Sakistan's every instinct is to try and smooth things over and to get back to as much of a diplomatic norm as as is possible in these very uncertain times.

Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer have spoken by phone following the US president's claim the prime minister only wanted to "join wars after we've already won". Downing Street said the two leaders discussed "military co-operation between the UK and US through the use of RAF bases in support of the collective self-defence of partners in the region". Trump had posted on Truth Social on Saturday that the UK was "giving serious thought" to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East, before saying the US does not "need them". The outburst was triggered by the UK's refusal to allow the US to use its airbases to bomb Iran. #skynews #iran #israel #beirut #Dahiyeh #trump #specialrelationship SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/skynews Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/skynews Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skynews Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skynews Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@skynews For more content go to http://news.sky.com and download our apps: Apple https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-news/id316391924?mt=8 Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bskyb.skynews.android&hl=en_GB Listen to our new podcast This is Why, available for free here: https://podfollow.com/thisiswhy To enquire about licensing Sky News content, you can find more information here: https://news.sky.com/info/library-sales