London: Britain is standing firm against US President Donald Trump over a Pentagon plan to change its stance on European colonies such as the Falkland Islands, more than four decades after the UK went to war with Argentina to assert its claim to the remote territory.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has asserted the British sovereignty of the islands in the South Atlantic after a leaked Pentagon memo raised the idea of punishing European countries that the US claimed were not doing enough to help in its war with Iran.
The dispute adds another challenge for King Charles during his imminent state visit to see Trump in Washington DC, including meetings on Monday and a banquet at the White House on Tuesday.
The aggressive approach outlined in the Pentagon memo, authored by top policy adviser Elbridge Colby, also raises the idea of suspending Spain from the NATO alliance because it is not supporting the Iran war.
A key part of the memo, obtained by Reuters and revealed on Friday, says the US could reassess its diplomatic support for the “imperial possessions” claimed by major European nations.
While the leak has triggered headlines about the Falklands, the approach set out in the Pentagon proposal could be used against several European countries given their longstanding ties to former colonies.
The memo calls for a tougher diplomatic stance against NATO allies that have not delivered the support Trump sought for the war, especially in their decisions to deny US forces the ability to use European bases.
Starmer’s office said the sovereignty of the Falklands Islands was “not in question” despite the US proposal.
The government of the Falkland Islands, which is structured as a British territory with an elected ministry and a governor who represents King Charles, has also dismissed the US proposal.
“The Falkland Islands has complete confidence in the commitment made by the UK government to uphold and defend our right of self-determination,” it said in a statement.
The Falkland Islands are about 500 kilometres east of Argentina and have been the subject of rival claims by Argentina and Britain for at least two centuries, but their residents have long favoured self-government as a British territory, endorsed most recently in a 2013 referendum.
When Argentina launched an invasion of the islands in 1982, during a period of military rule in Buenos Aires, the UK responded by sending a naval force that sank Argentine vessels and landed troops on the islands to reclaim the territory.
While the Pentagon proposal is not official policy and canvasses options that might be used against European nations, the suggestion about the Falkland Islands has hit a nerve in Britain and sparked headlines about the backlash against Trump and his administration on the issue.
Colby, the author of the memo, is the under-secretary for policy at the Department of War and has made other provocative moves over the past year, including a decision last July to launch a review of the AUKUS pact with Australia and the UK.
The Colby review questioned whether AUKUS met the “America first” policy of the Trump administration, and it required a major diplomatic effort by the UK and Australia to ensure the pact went ahead. Trump confirmed his support for AUKUS in October, but Colby’s move led to months of doubt over the vast submarine project.
Argentina has kept up its claims to the Falklands for decades after the 1982 war, calling them Las Islas Malvinas.
Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno seized on the US proposal to post a message on social media calling for talks with the UK on a “peaceful and definitive solution” to the sovereignty dispute.
One source of concern for the British government is the close friendship between Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei, a philosophical ally of the MAGA movement.
In its official statements, the US has emphasised its neutrality on the sovereignty question and acknowledged the competing claims of the UK and Argentina.
A US State Department spokesperson told Agence France-Presse that the US recognises “de facto United Kingdom administration” of the territory without taking sides.
The Colby memo centres on American doubts about the support from NATO at a time when European leaders are criticising the war with Iran, declining to send forces to assist the US in the Persian Gulf and, in some cases, calling the war illegal.
American forces continue to have practical support in Europe. US bombers are using the Royal Air Force base at Fairford in the UK to mount some of their strikes. Germany hosts a mammoth logistics hub, hospital and airfield at Ramstein. France is hosting US refuellers at the Istres-Le Tube air base near Marseille, while Italy has done the same thing at Aviano, north of Venice.
After initially refusing to allow the use of UK bases, Starmer has approved the use of bases, including Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for “defensive” operations that can include strikes on Iranian military assets.
European criticism has mounted, however, as the Iran war has dragged on. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called the war a breach of international law and blocked US forces from using any bases in Spain for the attacks on Iran.
Sanchez has maintained his objections to the Iran war despite the leaked memo, and he has argued that Spain is fulfilling all its NATO responsibilities.
David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.