{"id":548641,"date":"2026-04-24T17:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548641\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T17:28:10","slug":"could-trump-withdraw-us-support-for-uk-sovereignty-of-falklands-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548641\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Trump withdraw US support for UK sovereignty of Falklands? | Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

The White House is considering punishing European countries that have failed to assist Donald Trump wage his war in Iran, according to an official within the Pentagon. Keir Starmer, once described as \u201cvery nice<\/a>\u201d, is now routinely said by the US president to be a \u201ccoward\u201d and \u201cno Churchill\u201d. It is claimed that Trump could go further and withdraw American support for Britain\u2019s sovereignty of the Falkland Islands over which the UK and Argentina went to war in 1982<\/a>. The proposal is said to be contained in an internal Pentagon email.<\/p>\n

What does the Pentagon email say?<\/p>\n

The memo\u2019s contents have only been briefed out but it is claimed the White House is looking at how to puncture the Europeans\u2019 \u201csense of entitlement\u201d. Trump has expressed his frustration at the reluctance or refusal of some Nato allies to grant the US access to bases and overflight rights. One punitive measure being considered is the suspension of Spain from Nato, although it is unclear how this would be achieved. The memo is also reported to include an option to consider reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European \u201cimperial possessions\u201d, such as the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic.<\/p>\n

What is the current US position on the Falklands?<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as Islas Malvinas, is based on the argument that with the \u201cexception of two months of illegal occupation in 1982\u201d, Britain has \u201ccontinuously, peacefully and effectively inhabited and administered\u201d them since 1833. The British government further claims that it is up to the people of the Falklands to choose their own future and status. The US does not currently take a position on the sovereignty of the islands. According to the US state department, the matter is a bilateral issue between the UK and Argentina. It says: \u201cWe encourage both parties to resolve their differences through dialogue in normal diplomatic channels. We recognise de facto United Kingdom administration of the islands but take no position regarding sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

What would it mean for the US to withdraw \u2018diplomatic support\u2019 on the issue?<\/p>\n

Argentina claims that it inherited the Falklands from Spain when it gained independence and that the principle of self-determination is not applicable to the inhabitants of the islands. There are regular attempts by Argentina to gain support for resolutions at the UN which supports its claim. While the US does not take a formal position on the sovereignty, and did seek to find a diplomatic solution at the start of the 1982 conflict, the White House ultimately came to the UK\u2019s aid militarily through the provision of intelligence and advanced missiles when those efforts to find a settlement failed. Since then, the US has helped water down or block resolutions in favour of Argentina\u2019s claim. The Falkland Islands are considered by the UN to be a \u201cnon-self-governing territory\u201d and are subject to continuing discussion by the \u201cSpecial Committee on Decolonization\u201d. The UK has been encouraged to open up negotiations with Argentina, but this has been resisted by the British government on the grounds that the Falklanders have the right to self-determination. Should the US shift to support Argentina, or be vocal about the need for the UK to open talks, the British government would be left isolated.<\/p>\n

What is likely to happen?<\/p>\n

Nothing. King Charles is on a state visit to the US next week. Trump has appeared utterly enamoured of the British royal family and has said the king\u2019s visit might well \u201cfix\u201d relations after a rocky period. Trump has developed a rapport with Argentina\u2019s president, Javier Milei, who recently reasserted his country\u2019s claim to the islands, but it seems highly unlikely Trump would want to dedicate any time at all \u2013 or that of his officials in the UN \u2013 on the issue. There are deep security ties between the UK and the US, and such a pivot would be heavily resisted within the system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The White House is considering punishing European countries that have failed to assist Donald Trump wage his war…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-548641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}