President Donald Trump hinted on Thursday that he is reconsidering U.S. support for the U.K.’s claim to the Falkland Islands because of the country’s lack of support for his war against Iran.
Trump told British news channel GB News that Washington might not back the U.K. if Argentina were to invade the islands.
“Your country was not there to help me,” Trump said in a clip of the interview released on Thursday, referencing his frustration over Britain’s refusal to back U.S. military operations in Iran.
The U.S. has historically been neutral in the conflict, although Washington supported Britain’s campaign to control the Islands following an invasion by Argentina in 1982. In a 2013 referendum, residents voted 99.8% to remain a British overseas territory.
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Trump’s comments come after Argentinian President Javier Milei, who has a close relationship with Trump, has launched an effort to claim control of the islands, restarting a long-standing dispute with the U.K. over the territory.
“The Malvinas were, are, and will always be Argentine,” Milei wrote on X in April.
Trump has repeatedly signaled his frustration with England and NATO for a lack of support in his ongoing war in Iran.
In the interview, Trump maintained that the U.K. is “not doing very well” and suggested the country had been weakened by repeated closures of the Strait of Hormuz. He argued the U.K. is “not the same country it was” when it initially won control over the Falkland Islands.
“I asked your former leader, ‘Why didn’t you send a couple of ships?’” Trump said of the U.K.’s response to his war against Iran. “He said we don’t have any, and it was pretty sad, the whole thing. So NATO was not there, even though most of those countries get a big portion of their oil from there.”
Trump also told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that the United States was reviewing its position on the islands. Those comments followed reporting by The Daily Telegraph that the Pentagon was reviewing the U.S. position on the islands in order to incentivize its NATO allies to up their defense spending commitments.
“I always review every position,” Trump said. “That’s just one of many.
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