Donald Trump’s chaotic foreign policy and repeated criticism of Sir Keir Starmer have left Whitehall officials feeling they can no longer trust their longest and closest ally, The i Paper has been told.
A decades-long intelligence relationship has been plunged into uncertainty after Washington’s threats to Greenland, its ambition to interfere in European politics, and public outrage over Britain’s refusal to join the US war with Iran.
Repeated misfires on the world stage have seen the US President disparage the role of Britain’s Armed Forces in previous joint wars and launch personal attacks on Starmer, labelling him “no Churchill”.
The impact has reverberated through the halls of Whitehall and UK intelligence.
A Foreign Office source told The i Paper that the White House’s “America First” approach showed Trump had “no compulsion about screwing over allies” and stated that the UK simply “cannot trust” the current administration.
American officials seconded to UK Government departments are now being asked to leave meetings which discuss sensitive information, according to the Financial Times.
A UK intelligence source described the move as “tit for tat”, meaning that any attempts to protect UK intelligence are only in response to similar hostilities from the US.
John Foreman, the UK’s Defence Attaché to Moscow until 2022, said that “trust once gone is hard to restore.”
He told The i Paper: “If the US aren’t willing to ensure that UK secrets remain classified, then restrictions will have to be put in place. But [this is] hard when intelligence sharing is so deep and wide.”
For more than 70 years, the special relationship between Britain and America has been a cornerstone of the Western alliance, with intelligence and military officials working together to combat all manner of threats, from direct war to clandestine operations.
But building tensions across the Atlantic have spilt over into public US criticism of the UK’s delayed approval for American aircraft to use British military sites to launch strikes on Iran.
The US President previously branded Starmer as a leader who has tried to “join wars after we’ve already won”. In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said that “countries that can not get jet fuel” and refused to join the strikes against Iran, like the “United Kingdom”, should stop relying on the United States.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself,” he wrote, “the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore.”
‘Tensions and distrust’ between allies
The latest insults thrown across the Atlantic come after a tumultuous few months for the so-called “special relationship”.
On Trump’s arrival at the White House last year, UK intelligence officials sought assurances on the way intelligence would be used and disseminated by US counterparts amid concern over Trump’s foreign policy.
The open sharing of intelligence between the two countries dates back to the secret 1941 Sinkov Mission, which involved the exchange of information on Japanese and German ciphers at Bletchley Park before the US officially entered the Second World War.
Since then, the US and UK continue to share intelligence through the UKUSA Agreement, often referred to as “Two Eyes”, and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance involving Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
However, a growing assessment of the current “Two Eyes” relationship has left UK officials feeling that they are viewed by Washington as “just part of Europe”.
During Trump’s threats to take over Greenland and his reluctance to rule out military force, strain was placed on other longstanding allied agreements.
A senior Nato insider told The i Paper at the time that the US President’s moves were “creating tensions and distrust” between European and US colleagues in the alliance.
The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said staff are “not talking openly” anymore amid growing concerns that information will make its way back to Trump and could be used in an attempt to take Greenland by force.
“We used to get beers together, but now it’s really strange. I have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan side-by-side with Americans,” they said. “This is very disruptive in a way that I have never thought of before because it is so unrealistic and surprising.”
Whitehall’s reticence of US counterparts was highlighted last week in a government issued report into foreign interference.
The review’s author, former civil servant Phillip Rycroft said warned of new threats stemming from allies – namely the US.
The report made a bold reference to the US national security strategy, which, earlier this year, stated Washington’s intention to interfere in European politics and oppose what it termed as “elite-driven, anti-democratic restrictions on core liberties in Europe”.
“I am also cognisant of a potential new threat”, the report stated. “An emerging willingness of foreign actors and private citizens, including from allies like the United States, to interfere in, and influence, politics abroad in pursuit of their own agenda.”
As Starmer looks to paper over any remaining relationship with the White House, Buckingham Palace announced King Charles would be making a state visit to the US in late April.
Seeking to capitalise on Trump’s affection towards the British monarchy, the King will embark on a long-planned trip to mark the 250th anniversary of that country’s independence from British rule.
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