Starmer fires back at Trump after threat to review Britain’s claim to Falkland Islands

Sir Keir Starmer has fired back at Donald Trump after reports emerged that the US could review its support of Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands.

Downing Street has responded by insisting the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands “isn’t going to change”. Asked about the reports, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The UK position is clear and isn’t going to change… It’s a long standing one. It’s an unchanged one, and it will remain the case.” He earlier said: “The Falkland Islands have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory, and we’ve always stood behind the islanders’ right to self-determination and the fact that sovereignty rests with the UK.” Asked if the Government was worried by the risk of the US changing its position on the Falklands, the spokesman said: “No, and as I say, we’ve expressed this position previously, clearly and consistently to successive US administrations, and nothing is going to change that.”

An internal Pentagon email set out options for Donald Trump’s administration to punish Nato allies for refusing to join the US-Israeli strikes against Iran. The memo, first reported by Reuters, suggested reassessing US ‌diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” such as the Falklands. The Foreign Office, however, is treating the potential shift in the US position as a “hypothetical scenario”.

The US state department describes the Falklands as “administered by the United Kingdom, claimed by Argentina” and uses the Spanish name Islas Malvinas alongside the English name.

The row is the latest sign of the strains in the US-UK relationship as the King and Queen prepare for their state visit on Monday. The No 10 spokesman said: “We are absolutely confident the state visit will showcase the very best of the UK-US bilateral relationship, from security to our economic ties, and our people to people relationships.”

Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and invaded them in 1982 before being defeated in a short but bloody war. The US president is an ally of Argentina’s president Javier Milei and Mr Trump’s relationship with Sir Keir has deteriorated dramatically since the start of the Iran crisis.

One example was the Prime Minister’s refusing to give the US free rein in its use of British military bases to conduct the bombing campaign against Iran.

Limited permission was then granted for bases – including RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and Diego Garcia in the British Indian Ocean Territory – to be used in defensive actions against Iran’s missile sites and installations threatening the Strait of Hormuz, but only after Tehran’s retaliatory actions began.

The Pentagon email expressed frustration at Nato allies’ reluctance to grant access, basing and overflight (ABO) rights for the Iran war. It suggested Spain could be suspended from the Nato alliance over its refusal to allow bases or airspace to be used to attack Iran.

Downing Street backs Spain’s membership of the “absolutely critical” alliance. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the US stance was “absolute nonsense”. She said: “We need to make sure that we back the Falklands. They are British territory. I don’t know what Donald Trump is talking about. This sounds like the sort of thing he was saying when it came to Greenland.”