{"id":117114,"date":"2026-09-03T23:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T23:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/117114\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T23:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T23:20:09","slug":"trump-raises-doubts-over-whether-the-us-would-support-britain-in-falklands-dispute-with-argentina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/117114\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump raises doubts over whether the US would support Britain in Falklands dispute with Argentina"},"content":{"rendered":"

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump raised doubts about whether the United States would support Britain in another conflict over the Falkland Islands<\/a> in an interview with a British broadcaster aired Thursday, injecting new tension into the long-standing dispute over the British-controlled archipelago also claimed by Argentina.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s comments came as his ideological ally<\/a>, Argentine President Javier Milei<\/a>, prepared to deliver a televised national address about what his government has described as diplomatic progress over the islands that lie about 480 kilometers (300 miles) off Argentina\u2019s coast in the South Atlantic. <\/p>\n

When asked in an interview with British television channel GB News whether the U.S. would \u201ccome to the aid\u201d of Britain in a new conflict over the territory, Trump avoided answering directly. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell, look, I was there when they had the first war,\u201d Trump said of the 10-week conflict<\/a> that erupted in April 1982, when Argentina\u2019s waning military dictatorship invaded the islands and then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher<\/a> sent British naval forces across the Atlantic to retake them. The war killed 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service members and three islanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a long time ago and I watched it so carefully, and you comported yourselves very well,\u201d Trump added. \u201cYou took it back pretty strongly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then pivoted to complaints<\/a> that Britain has not provided sufficient support for the U.S.-led bombing campaign against Iran<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the first time the Trump administration had drawn a connection between Britain\u2019s claim to the remote islands and its refusal to participate in the U.S. war on Iran: An internal Pentagon email reported in April raised the prospect<\/a> of Washington reconsidering its position on the archipelago as one possible way to punish NATO allies<\/a> that declined to join the Iran war. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour country\u2019s not doing well,\u201d he said of Britain. \u201cYour country was not there to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump recalled Britain\u2019s former prime minister<\/a>, Keir Starmer, telling him the country did not have ships to contribute to the campaign. \u201cIt was pretty sad, the whole thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For decades, successive U.S. administrations have remained neutral on the competing Argentine and British sovereignty claims over the Falklands while recognizing Britain\u2019s de facto administration of the islands. Any departure from that position would be a major diplomatic affront and inflame already high trans-Atlantic tensions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Trump had already fueled speculation about a possible shift in U.S. policy on Monday when asked whether his administration was reviewing its stance on the islands. <\/p>\n

\u201cI always review every position,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cThat\u2019s just one of many.\u201d<\/p>\n

Milei, a free-market libertarian who has struggled to prove his nationalist credentials and previously been criticized<\/a> for a lack of support for the cause, welcomed Trump\u2019s comment, declaring that \u201csomething major happened regarding the most sacred cause we Argentines have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked earlier this week about Milei\u2019s planned address, Prime Minister Andy Burnham\u2019s spokesman, Tom Wells, said the British government\u2019s position was \u201clong-standing and unwavering.\u201d He pointed to a 2013 referendum<\/a> in which the roughly 4,000 people living in the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining a British overseas territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cSovereignty rests with the U.K., and the islanders\u2019 right to self-determination is paramount,\u201d Wells said. \u201cThe U.K.\u2019s position is clear. The islanders have repeatedly expressed their wish to remain a British overseas territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argentina maintains that it inherited sovereignty over the islands from its former colonizer, Spain, and that Britain has illegally occupied them since 1833. The Falklands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, still carry enormous political and symbolic weight as one of the few causes that unite the deeply divided country.<\/p>\n

Argentine patriotic fervor over the islands<\/a> flared most recently during this year\u2019s World Cup, when players celebrated their semifinal victory over England by displaying a banner declaring<\/a> \u201cLas Malvinas son Argentinas\u201d \u2014 \u201cThe Malvinas are Argentine.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Zeke Miller in Washington and Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) \u2014 U.S. President Donald Trump raised doubts about whether the United States would support…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[7786,4802,47839,13,30234,2403,361,4461,44,24,1449,362,94,1907,6617,4959,13486,14,15408,47838,6,3396,46],"class_list":["post-117114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-andy-burnham","tag-argentina","tag-argentina-government","tag-britain","tag-central-america","tag-diplomacy","tag-donald-trump","tag-falkland-islands","tag-general-news","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-javier-milei","tag-keir-starmer","tag-latin-america","tag-margaret-thatcher","tag-military-and-defense","tag-nationalism","tag-politics","tag-south-america","tag-tom-wells","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-kingdom-government","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117209676470583902","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}