President Trump has publicly supported UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer amid a scandal surrounding his appointment of a friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as ambassador to the US. Starmer, who fired Peter Mandelson last September, insisted that he would have withdrawn his choice if he knew Mandelson had failed security checks conducted by the UK’s Foreign Office. Despite this, Members of Parliament have criticized Starmer for his knowledge of Mandelson's links to Epstein. The president has defended Starmer's actions amid the scandal, criticising him for denying the US military use of British bases to launch attacks against Iran and for failing to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.