SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Eighty years ago today, the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, described his country's strongest alliance.
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WINSTON CHURCHILL: This means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States of America.
DETROW: That special relationship flourished under Churchill and Roosevelt, Thatcher and Reagan, Blair and Bush. But it has come under strain during the Trump administration, most recently over the Iran war. NPR's Lauren Frayer reports from London.
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PRIME MINISTER KEIR STARMER: The United States and Israel attack targets across Iran. President Trump...
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: When the war broke out, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, said he would not allow the U.S. to use British military bases for any offensive attacks on Iran. Starmer told Parliament...
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STARMER: This government does not believe in regime change from the skies, and I'm thankful for...
FRAYER: Vowing not to follow the U.S. into another war, like Tony Blair did 23 years ago.
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STARMER: We all remember the mistakes of Iraq...
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Hear, hear.
STARMER: ...And we have learned those lessons.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Hear, hear.
FRAYER: After Iran retaliated against the Gulf, Starmer did give the U.S. access to British bases, but only for limited defensive operations, and that wasn't enough for President Trump...
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The U.K. has been very, very uncooperative with it...
FRAYER: ...Who had an Oval Office outburst accusing Starmer of hurting U.S.-U.K. ties.
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TRUMP: This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.
FRAYER: Trump probably never met that World War II-era leader, but this man did.
NICHOLAS SOAMES: My name is Nicholas Soames, official title is Lord Soames of Fletching. I am the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill.
FRAYER: He says his grandfather forged that special relationship.
SOAMES: His theory was that you should never ever break that bond with America.
FRAYER: But he says even Churchill might've had trouble with Trump.
SOAMES: Churchill would've had to swallow hard to come to a relationship with President Trump.
FRAYER: I asked him how the special relationship has changed under Trump.
SOAMES: Well, I think he's changed everything. He's thrown all the pieces in the air, and you can just watch them one by one coming to ground. I mean, I think he has nothing but contempt for Europe.
FRAYER: Now, Starmer has positioned himself as a liaison between Europe and America. He's courted Trump and won a slightly more favorable trade deal. Trump visited the U.K. twice last year and has said he really likes Starmer. So to rail against him now...
KIM DARROCH: Look, it was quite wounding. This is what dealing with the American president is like.
FRAYER: Kim Darroch served as British ambassador to Washington during the first Trump administration, until leaked diplomatic cables revealed him describing the White House as dysfunctional and inept. But Darroch thinks the special relationship will endure despite disagreements over this Iran war, over NATO and a certain Arctic island.
DARROCH: If we can get over these bumps in the road, over the bases and over Greenland and the other things, I think that it can be repaired. I really do.
FRAYER: That's in both national interests, he says. America remains the U.K.'s security guarantor, at least for now, and its biggest single-country trading partner. But Starmer told Parliament, it is not one-sided. This week, U.K. jets are shooting down drones and missiles. U.K. spies are sharing intelligence.
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STARMER: That is the special relationship in action.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hear, hear.
STARMER: Hanging on to President Trump's latest words is not the special relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Yeah.
FRAYER: Even before this Iran war, during Trump's second term, as U.S. officials talked about withdrawing security guarantees and slapping tariffs on allies, Churchill's grandson, Lord Soames, says he realized something.
SOAMES: I feel that there is a increasing gulf between us. I just feel it's not quite the same.
FRAYER: And so Starmer is making moves, albeit slowly, to boost the U.K.'s own defense and trade more with China and India, in case this special relationship forged in the 20th century is imperiled by the challenges of the 21st.
Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.
(SOUNDBITE OF BADBADNOTGOOD AND GHOSTFACE KILLAH SONG, "TONE'S RAP") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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