American aircrews check a B-52 Stratofortress long-range subsonic bomber aircraft on the pan at RAF Fairford. The United Kingdom reportedly is refusing to let the United States use the base for a potential attack on Iran. (Getty Images)
"Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime," Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.
"An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries. We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them."
Trump has pressed for Tehran to make a deal with the U.S. over its nuclear program.
"President Trump’s first instinct is always diplomacy, and he has been clear that the Iranian regime should make a deal," a White House official told Fox News Digital. "Of course, the President ultimately has all options at his disposal, and he demonstrated with Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Absolute Resolve that he means what he says."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the use of British military bases against Iran is a "necessity for an attack — it would be beyond surprising."
"The bottom line is the largest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet is the weakest it’s been because the people of Iran have risen up by the millions to end their oppression and the United States and Israel have delivered crushing blows to the regime’s military infrastructure," Graham wrote on X.
"To my friends in Britain, sitting this one out puts you on the wrong side of history and is yet another example of how much our alliances throughout Europe have degraded."
Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean, was leased from the U.K. in 1966. (Reuters)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
"Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100-year lease," he added. "This land should not be taken away from the UK and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our great ally."
The U.S. uses Diego Garcia for bombers operating in the Middle East and Asia.
Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to louis.casiano@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/uk-blocks-trump-using-raf-air-bases-potential-iran-attack-report