Trump 'to review UK's claim to the Falklands' in bombshell punishment for failure to back Iran War
The move is Trump's latest attempt to punish NATO members for not supporting the Iran War
As King Charles III prepares for his US state visit next week, and with Donald Trump claiming it could help repair relations, stay with LBC for all the latest.
Donald Trump is looking for ways to punish NATO countries for not supporting the Iran War, including reviewing Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands.
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Options are being detailed in an email in which some NATO members have been named and shamed for not permitting the US access to bases, or overflight rights, for the Iran War, according to officials.
One of the options mentioned is reassessing US diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” attached to Europe, including the Falkland Islands, according to Reuters.
Ownership over the British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic has long been contested by Argentina.
Read more: Trump sacks Secretary of Navy as standoff with Iran over Strait of Hormuz blockade continues
Tensions over the territory's sovereignty led to war under Margaret Thatcher, when Argentinian forces invaded the islands in 1982.
The current leader of Argentina, Javier Milei, is one of Trump’s closest allies.
Britain initially blocked the US from using its bases to attack Iran, but following retaliatory Iranian airstrikes, it relented and allowed defensive operations to “protect British interests”.
The matter has driven a wedge between Washington and Downing Street, with Trump increasingly piling pressure on Starmer to support the war, including branding him cowardly and “no Winston Churchill”.
The US President also hit out at NATO members for not supporting him in his fight to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which was closed by Iran in response to the US-Israeli strikes.
The closure of the Strait sent shockwaves through international markets, as it had previously been relied upon for the safe passage of around 20 per cent of the world’s fossil fuels.
Sir Christian Turner, Britain’s ambassador to the US, last week confirmed that the UK will make a wide-ranging military contribution to protect shipping in the strait.
Trump also took issue with shouldering much of NATO’s financial burden, arguing that the US was propping up other members in the alliance.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated that European allies provided “a massive amount of support” to the US during the war and had continually delivered on their promises.
The US President has long threatened to pull the country out of NATO, labelling the security alliance a “paper tiger”.
However, this current email does not suggest that the US is planning to exit or close down its military bases in Europe, reports suggest.
The source did, however, decline to confirm whether a possible reduction of US forces from Europe was part of the message.
