Former US Army General Hits Out At Donald Trump's 'Repulsive' Comments About America's Allies

Ben Hodges said he was "embarrassed" at the president's behaviour.

A former US Army general has hit out at Donald Trump’s “repulsive” comments about America’s allies over the war in Iran.

The president is putting pressure on other countries, including the UK, to send ships to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open as the conflict goes on.

Speaking on Monday, he said: “They should be in here very happily helping us,” he said. “They should be jumping to help us because we’ve helped them for years.”

Lieutenant General Hodges, the former commander of the US Army in Europe, told Radio 4′s Today programme: “This is embarrassing for me as an American to hear any American president showing such disdain for any ally, and we are going to regret in the long run as ... nations lose confidence in us, lose trust in us and start finding other ways to look after their strategic interests.”

Taking aim specifically at the prime minister, Trump said: “Keir Starmer yesterday told me, ‘I’m meeting with my team to make a determination’.

“I said, ‘you don’t need to meet your team, you’re the prime minister, you can make your own decision.’”

But Lt Gen Hodges said: “Many of the problems that we’re having in the United States right now are because the president has gotten rid of the normal national security staff and he’s put in place people who are sycophants.

“Any leader worth his or her salt depends on a team, so I find this repulsive to say the prime minister or the German chancellor or the president of any other country doesn’t need to speak to his or her team.”

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