London: A casual remark from Donald Trump has heightened concerns in Britain about its military capacity after the US president seemed to dismiss the idea of helping one of America’s closest allies.
Trump suggested the UK would not get his help in the event of a clash with Argentina over their rival claims to the Falkland Islands, where the two countries went to war in 1982.
The president linked the issue to the Iran war by noting, as he has in the past, that former British prime minister Keir Starmer turned down his request for military support to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
“Your country was not there to help me,” he told broadcaster GB News.
While Trump’s comments were brief and did not constitute a formal shift in foreign policy, they added to the debate in Britain over a potential conflict with Argentina, as its leader is becoming increasingly assertive about the territorial claim.
Argentine President Javier Milei, one of Trump’s ideological allies and the beneficiary of generous White House support, this week declared the islands were a “sacred” claim for his country.
When GB News asked Trump if he would back Britain in any dispute, the US president praised the UK for winning the 1982 war but cast doubt on whether he would help in another conflict.
“I was there when they had the first war, that was a long time ago, and I watched it so carefully,” he said.
“And you comported yourselves very well. You took it back pretty strongly.
“But it’s a long way away. That’s a big trip. It’s a long way.
“So, your country’s not doing well. Don’t forget you get a big percentage of your oil from the Strait of Hormuz, and you weren’t there to help me. Your country was not there to help me.”
Trump made the complaint while also repeating his previous claim that the US did not need help from Britain in the war with Iran. He said he asked Starmer if the UK could send a “couple of ships” and was told the UK had none to spare.
The formal US policy on the conflict is to remain neutral on the rival claims. Under the Monroe Doctrine, declared two centuries ago, US administrations see the Americas as their own sphere of influence, not a domain for European powers.
Under Trump, the “Donroe Doctrine” dictates that America comes first. And the US president will only help those who give him what he wants – whether it is Greenland or a fleet of ships in the Persian Gulf.
While the US said it was neutral in the 1982 war, it leaned toward Britain when Argentina’s military junta ordered an invasion of the islands. US president Ronald Reagan kept up supplies of military material to the UK when British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, sent a fleet to the South Atlantic to reclaim the formal British territory.
The British victory was followed by the crumbling of the Argentine military dictatorship, under which an estimated 30,000 people were murdered, and many others were targeted in human rights abuses over eight years.
The Royal Navy had almost 200 vessels at the time of the Falklands War, while it has about 70 today, including some that are being decommissioned. MPs have warned in a series of reports that the country needs a stronger military.
Labour MP Tan Dhesi, the chair of the House of Commons defence committee, this week urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to spend more on defence – and he named concerns about the US as one of the reasons.
“The British people should be under no illusion that the nation faces a significantly increased threat level, especially from Russia, but also that we have a US leadership for whom European security is no longer a focus or a priority,” Dhesi told parliament.
“That is why it is imperative that we invest in our armed forces in the here and now, rather than being sorry later.”
Burnham’s office has issued a statement that repeats the British claim to the Falklands, which have been British territory since 1833 and were first sighted by an English captain in 1592. There were no indigenous inhabitants.
The key unknown is whether Milei will seek to provoke Britain rather than merely repeat his rhetoric about Argentina’s claim to the islands. Would he really start a serious fight? That would be utterly irrational.
Even so, the war of 1982 illustrates the key risk for Britain: some governments are quite capable of starting stupid wars.
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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