The United States has moved to dismiss reports that Washington was considering a review of Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisting the proposals amounted to nothing more than “an email” that had been blown out of proportion.
The diplomatic flare-up centred on a leaked internal Pentagon memo, apparently drafted by a junior adviser, which suggested the US could reassess its position on Britain’s “imperial possessions” in retaliation for Sir Keir Starmer’s refusal to grant American jets access to Diego Garcia and mainland UK bases at the outset of the Iran war.
Speaking to The Sun, Mr Rubio sought to draw a line under the affair. “It was just an email. People are getting overexcited by an email. It was just an email with some ideas,” he said.
The row erupted on the eve of King Charles’s four-day state visit to Washington, threatening to overshadow the trip and prompting calls for the monarch to raise the matter directly with Donald Trump. According to The Sun, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper discussed the issue face-to-face with Mr Rubio at a meeting in Washington on Wednesday, where he again played down the significance of the leak. Trump claims King Charles ‘would have helped’ US in Iran war
Despite the climbdown in tone, the State Department’s formal position has remained unchanged. An official told the newspaper: “Our position on the islands remains one of neutrality. We acknowledge that there are conflicting claims of sovereignty between Argentina and the UK.” The official added that the US recognises “the de facto United Kingdom administration of the islands but take no position regarding sovereignty claims of either party”.
In Buenos Aires, the response was markedly more upbeat. Argentina’s libertarian president and Trump ally Javier Milei seized on the leaked proposals as a sign of momentum behind his country’s long-standing claim. “We are doing everything humanly possible so that the Argentine Malvinas, the islands, the entire territory return to the hands of Argentina,” Mr Milei said in a radio interview later shared on his X account. “We’re making progress like never before.”
Vice-president Victoria Villarruel struck a similarly assertive note, arguing that “the discussion over the sovereignty of our islands is between states” and that the United Kingdom must therefore “discuss bilaterally with Argentina the claim that we maintain for legal, historical, and geographical reasons”.
The Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic, have long been at the centre of a sovereignty dispute between London and Buenos Aires. The two countries fought a brief but bloody war over the islands in 1982 after Argentina attempted to seize them, a conflict that claimed the lives of around 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops before Argentina surrendered.
Downing Street pushed back firmly against the suggestion that the islands’ status was open to negotiation. “Sovereignty rests with the UK and the islands’ right to self-determination is paramount. It’s been our consistent position and will remain the case,” a spokesperson said.
The military posture has hardened in tandem with the diplomatic exchanges. Writing in The Times, Air Chief Marshal Sir Harv Smyth said the RAF was on “high alert” and “ready” to defend the territory, describing its role in protecting Falklands airspace as “non-negotiable”. He noted that fighter aircraft have been stationed on the islands since 1982. “From ‘quick reaction alert’ in UK, scrambled recently against a suspected Russian ‘bear’ bomber aircraft which was approaching our airspace from the north, to fighter aircraft based in the Falklands, to our current Typhoon deployment in Romania as part of NATO’s vital enhanced air policing mission, the RAF’s role in defending airspace is non-negotiable,” he wrote.
By the close of the King’s state visit, the mood music between the two leaders had returned to warmer territory. Mr Trump hailed Charles as “the greatest king in my book”, and on the final day the King and Queen Camilla met residents in Front Royal, Virginia, before the monarch laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. After bidding farewell to the royal party, the President was overheard telling reporters: “Really great people. We need more people like that in our country.” Charles was then flown aboard Trump’s helicopter to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for his departure.
