Can Starmer Keep Saying No To Trump?
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, President Trump has reiterated his requests for support from Nato allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz - days after saying we don’t need” UK aircraft carriers in the Middle East.
For now, the PM and other European allies are holding off - with Sir Keir Starmer saying the UK doesn’t want to get drawn into the wider US-Israeli war with Iran.
James and Chris are joined by Panorama film maker Jane Corbin to discuss the ongoing disagreement between the two sides of the Atlantic.
Plus, The Economist’s defence editor Shashank Joshi joins James to explain why Trump has requested European support in the Gulf, and whether it would actually make a difference.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.3 | If American politics is leaving you with a lot of questions, you're not alone. |
| 0:12.3 | On America's, we chat through what's really going on. |
| 0:15.3 | Make sense of what's happening in the US, with new podcast episodes arriving throughout the week. |
| 0:20.6 | America's, listen on BBC Sounds arriving throughout the week. America. |
| 0:21.4 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:23.8 | Hello, it's James in for Adam and the war in Iran. |
| 0:28.0 | It's now well into its third week. |
| 0:31.0 | But things are moving fast because it seems, what, just about a week ago that Donald Trump |
| 0:35.0 | was posting on social media saying, we, as in the US, don't |
| 0:39.2 | need UK aircraft carriers to help us. And now, he seems to have changed his mind. He seems |
| 0:45.3 | to want the UK and NATO to come and help and help with the Strait of Hormuz, this narrow |
| 0:50.6 | choke point for a fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies. But what could the UK even do? |
| 0:55.9 | That's what we'll be discussing on this episode of Newscast. |
| 0:59.8 | Newscast from the BBC. |
| 1:02.1 | Fat boy sliver me in the classroom doing our violin lessons. |
| 1:05.0 | I was the tappletail in the class. |
| 1:06.4 | Can I have an apology, please? |
| 1:07.7 | I trust almost nobody. |
| 1:09.4 | That daddy has to sometimes do strong language. Next time in Moscow. I feel delulu with no salulu. Take me down to Downey Street. Let's go have a tour. Blimey. Hello, it's James in Glasgow. And it is Chris at Westminster. And joining us in the newscast studio is friend of newscast, Jane Corbyn. Hello, Jane. Hello, it's good to be here. Thank you for coming in to see us yet again. Now, Chris, we've heard from both Donald Trump and Kier Starrma today, and we're going to get into the detail of some of what they've been saying in a minute. I think it's safe to say that they're not really agreeing with each other at the moment. |
| 1:44.6 | Have we ever seen them so far apart on any issue publicly? |
| 1:48.8 | I'm now thinking I'm sure we probably have. |
... |
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