It’s now crystal clear what US president Donald Trump thinks of British prime minister Keir Starmer.

Over the weekend, Trump shared on social media a brutal skit from Britain’s new version of the Saturday Night Live show, portraying the prime minister as overly eager to please the president and terrified of him.

“Golly,” the actor portraying Starmer says, “what if Donald shouts at me?”

Trump’s decision to distribute the skit to millions of his followers is the latest presidential disparagement of his British counterpart. In recent weeks, the president has mercilessly mocked Starmer as cowardly and spineless because of his unwillingness to fully join the fight against Iran.

Trump has repeatedly said that Starmer is “no Winston Churchill” and chided him for not clearing the way for US jets to use British bases for the initial strikes.

“We don’t need people that join Wars after we’ve already won!” the president wrote March 7th.

For Starmer, who has spent more than a year trying to be Europe’s Trump whisperer, the very public crumbling of their relationship comes at an already difficult time.

Ukraine still needs US support to defend itself against Russia, a key priority for the British government. Starmer is fighting the perception that he refuses to take firm stands on policy. And now, the conflict with Iran is further damaging the already wobbly British economy.

The prime minister continues to talk privately with the president – including a 20-minute call on Sunday evening not long after the president circulated the “SNL” skit online – but it’s unclear how much sway he has.

What started early in 2025 with Trump praising Starmer for doing “a very good job,” has now reached the stage where the prime minister is repeatedly insisting that the “special relationship” between Britain and the United States still exists. (In the SNL UK skit, it is referred to as the “special situationship”.)

A spokesperson for Starmer declined to say whether the prime minister had seen the SNL skit or had discussed it with Trump. The spokesperson said only that the prime minister is focused on responding to the president’s demands in a way that is in the British national interest without letting his country be dragged into the war.

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Starmer’s disagreement with Trump about Iran has driven a wedge between them for weeks. He initially denied Trump permission to attack Iran from two British bases, but later agreed to allow what he calls defensive missions aimed at protecting residents of the region, including British citizens. Starmer has since said the US military can also conduct attacks against Iranian sites that are launching attacks on the Strait of Hormuz.

British politicians and the public remain scarred by the country’s experience supporting the US in its war with Iraq in 2003, a decision which an official government inquiry later determined had been based on faulty intelligence. That has made Starmer especially wary of getting dragged into another war of the US’s choosing.

The prime minister, a former lawyer, has also questioned the legal basis for the US-Israeli attacks against Iran.

On Friday, Iran launched two missiles at Diego Garcia, a joint US-British military base in the Indian Ocean, about 4,000km away, John Healey, the British defence secretary, confirmed on Monday. Neither of the missiles made it to the targets – one failed mid-flight and the other was shot down by an American warship. But the range of the Iranian missiles was a cause for surprise in Britain and the US.

Speaking to a parliamentary committee on Monday, Starmer responded to a legislator’s comment about Trump being “quite rude” by insisting that he remains focused on what is in the best interests of Britain.

“Notwithstanding the pressure that comes from elsewhere, I will remain laser-focused on what is in the British national interest,” he said. “A lot of what is said or done is undoubtedly said or done to put pressure on me. I have no doubt about that. I understand exactly what is going on.”

Those kinds of comments have clearly annoyed Trump, who has tried to goad the prime minister into becoming more involved. But it was Starmer’s initial refusal that appears to have riled Trump.

The resulting iciness couldn’t be more different from what Starmer encountered at the beginning of their relationship.

The prime minister’s aides at No 10 Downing Street decided early on that he should try to avoid antagonising the new president. When they met in person, Starmer found ways to cater to Trump’s ego, including by hand-delivering an invitation from King Charles for a rare second state visit to Windsor Castle. Trump seemed to respond well to Starmer’s efforts, saying he considered them “friends”.

The idea was that Britain would get more with carrots than with sticks. By May, Starmer crowed about having negotiated the first trade deal with the president. At a time when other leaders, such as Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, were taking flak from Trump, Starmer’s approach seemed to be succeeding.

During discussions about the fate of Ukraine and Trump’s threats against Greenland, it was Starmer who often conveyed the views of his European counterparts to the president.

That all changed this year.

Apparently angry about the prime minister’s refusal to let him use British bases for strikes on Iran, Trump lashed out about an arrangement for the British government to relinquish control over the Chagos Islands – where Diego Garcia, the joint US-British base, is located – to Mauritius, and to lease back the base for an initial period of 99 years. It was a deal to which Trump had already given his blessing. But he made clear on social media that he was not happy after all.

“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ Nato Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump wrote on social media. He added that the decision was an “act of GREAT STUPIDITY”.

That began the downward slide between the two men, though Starmer has tried to put the best spin possible on it. At a recent news conference, he said the “special relationship” between Britain and the United States is about the two governments working together – not a friendship between two leaders.

“We’re working with the Americans at the deployment from our bases,” he said. “That is the special relationship. That is the special relationship in operation.”

– This article originally appeared in The New York Times.