Timeline: The highs and lows of the US-UK ‘special relationship’
Key takeaways
- Tensions between the allies punctuate King Charles’s US visit, designed to strengthen the UK-US partnership.
- Days after the war began – and after Starmer initially refused to allow US forces to use UK military bases for strikes on Iran – Trump described the British leader as “not Winston Churchill”.
- Nevertheless, their ties have faced periodic strain, even when they have agreed to align on larger issues.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Tensions between the allies punctuate King Charles’s US visit, designed to strengthen the UK-US partnership.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, speaks during a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump after their meeting at Chequers in central England on September 18, 2025, during a state visit by Trump [Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff Published On 27 Apr 202627 Apr 2026The United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States, Christian Turner, has called the four-day visit by King Charles III to the US an effort to “renew and revitalise a unique friendship” between the two allies.
The visit, which began on Monday, comes at a tense period in US-UK relations as US President Donald Trump continues to publicly criticise British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his stance on the US-Israeli war on Iran, accusing him of not assisting Washington in the fight against Iran or helping the US reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.