Keir Starmer on the Brink: Trump Timebomb Could Blow Up His Leadership

An eyebrow-raising leak from a private Signal group chat involving Donald Trump’s inner circle is now raising serious questions closer to home, particularly for Labour leader Keir Starmer. The scandal, sparked by an accidental invite received by The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, has put Trump’s controversial foreign policy circle in the spotlight again, and one British defence expert believes Starmer should start creating some serious distance.

Inside the leaked chat, Trump’s allies were openly chatting about military strikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen using casual banter and even emojis — but it didn’t stop there. The group also began badmouthing America’s supposed European allies, with one US minister describing the EU as a “pathetic freeloader.”

To make matters worse, a UK minister appeared to echo that sentiment this week, suggesting that although the US administration had “screwed up” by allowing the leak to happen, the Americans “have got a case” when it comes to Europe needing to pull more weight on defence spending, reported the Mirror.

Defence expert Professor Anthony Glees is not impressed, warning that Starmer is treading dangerous ground by appearing too close to Trump. “It’s getting increasingly perilous for Starmer, who’s walking a tightrope, with no safety net,” he said.

Glees believes Starmer is “determined to stay close to Trump at all costs, even though Trump and his bunch of inexperienced amateurs are shown to hold us in utter contempt.” He thinks those involved should issue a full apology, take a step back, and that one of Trump’s most vocal backers in the chat — Pete Hegseth — should “get back to being a Fox News jock.”

In one of the more eye-opening moments from the chat, Vice President JD Vance appeared to question Trump’s grasp of the situation, saying: “I am not sure the President is aware how inconsistent this [the attack] is with his message on Europe right now, there is a strong argument for delaying this for one month.”

Professor Glees believes this so-called delay would have been a tactic to put pressure on Europe — and the UK — by leaving them vulnerable. He points out that the Suez Canal, near the Red Sea, is a critical route for European trade, with up to 40 per cent of oil, gas and goods flowing through it. For the US, it only accounts for about three per cent of trade. “So here we have the US president actually wanting to damage us and our European allies. He’s the very guy who ought to be helping us, not harming us,” said Glees.

He also said Trump seems to share Tucker Carlson’s view of Europeans as “arrogant,” mocking their militaries as being “smaller than the US Marine Corps.” Glees didn’t hold back, adding: “With friends like this, who needs enemies?”

As the situation continues to unfold, the professor says the consequences are already rippling across Europe, the UK, and even Russia. He warns that Putin is exploiting Trump’s chaotic foreign policy and “inability to run his government,” particularly when it comes to the conflict in Ukraine.

Whether Starmer listens to the warning remains to be seen, but the expert’s message is clear: now might be the time to step away from the Trump orbit — before things get even messier.