Trump breaks silence after Keir Starmer's teary exit revealing the 'two problems' that led to his ouster: 'This is not Winston Churchill'

By NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT Published: 22:36, 22 June 2026 | Updated: 22:44, 22 June 2026 President Donald Trump named the 'two things' he believed tanked the tenure of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while also hammering him over the Iran war. Trump responded to Starmer's teary exit on Monday during an executive order signing session in the Oval Office.  'This is not Winston Churchill, that I can tell you,' the President said of the exiting British leader. Starmer resigned after serving in the role for just under two years, as the Labour Party lost elections last month in Wales and Scotland, and he was weighed down by an Epstein-related scandal.  He's the fourth British prime minister to exit in four years.  When first asked about Starmer's resignation, Trump identified an unconventional culprit.  Trump first said Starmer was a 'lovely man' and 'sort of a friend of mine' but added that he told him, 'you're really messing up energy.'  President Donald Trump (left) was asked Monday in the Oval Office about the resignation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right)  'You have windmills all over the place,' the President explained. 'In the meantime, you have the North Sea oil and they won't let anybody drill.'     Trump then complained how Starmer was 'not good to us with NATO,' suggesting that it hurt the prime minister politically.  'I mean, I wish him well, but he's got two problems - energy and immigration. And crime. But energy and immigration,' Trump said. The President moved on to another topic, but came back to Starmer again when asked about his scheduled meeting this week with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.   That prompted his 'Churchill' quip and a brief rant about how NATO members refused to help him after the US and Israel started a joint operation against Iran in late February. 'Starmer said worse than no,' Trump recalled. 'He said, we'll be there as soon as you win. I said, "We don't need you as soon as we win."  In the same breath, Trump also slammed Italy and Germany.  The President is currently in an online feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative who had previously been one of his favorite European leaders.  President Donald Trump (center left) and First Lady Melania Trump (left) pose for a picture alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (center right) and his wife Victoria (right) at a paratrooper demonstration outside of Chequers in September  British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) picks up UK-US trade deal papers alongside President Donald Trump (left) at last year's G7 summit in Canada  Starmer and Trump have both had their time in office tainted by serial pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  Starmer was enveloped in a scandal over his choice for US ambassador - Lord Peter Mandelson, who was exposed in the Epstein files of passing along privileged government information to the pedophile.  More recent electoral woes also led to Starmer's exit.  Starmer gave a tearful address on Monday outside of 10 Downing Street, where he announced a new PM would be chosen before Parliament returns in September. He plans to stay in his role until the new PM is chosen. Starmer will likely be replaced by Andy Burnham, who has criticized Trump for bringing 'instability' to the United States and warned people against the 'poisonous' Trumpian style of politics.    The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.