Perhaps Donald Trump, a football enthusiast who emerged during the World Cup held in North America this summer and which he considered his own, saw the banner that the Argentine players displayed with the slogan “The Malvinas are Argentine.” Perhaps he was still thinking about that when the President of the United States suggested from the Oval Office a possible review of the stance on that territory that caused a war between Argentina and the United Kingdom after the invasion of Argentine troops in 1982.
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“I always review all positions. That is just one of many,” the U.S. president responded to journalists on Monday when asked about the sovereignty of the archipelago claimed by the South American country, now governed by Javier Milei, one of the biggest Trump supporters globally.
Although Washington has always supported the unilateral British administration over the South Atlantic islands that Argentina claims from the United Kingdom, it has always stated a neutral diplomatic position. This is the first time Trump has spoken about the historic dispute.
It all started last Friday when an article in the British The Telegraph revealed that Washington was reviewing its commitments with its Atlantic partners based on new defense spending goals. Thus, Trump made it clear that he is willing to use this territorial confrontation to get the United Kingdom to increase its contribution to NATO and its defense spending.
But it is well known that if anything characterizes Trump, it is his ability to “blackmail,” which consists of positioning himself against his country’s allies to force his objectives. Between South and North Korea, he chooses the dictator Kim Jong Un. Between the authoritarian Vladimir Putin and the European Union, his sympathies seem to be with the Russian. And these days he has intensified his war against his longtime friend, neighbor Canada.
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In response to Trump, the official spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the status quo. “In the summer we established our position very clearly and that has not changed. The Falkland Islanders are British, with the right to determine their own future. They have expressed their desire to remain a British overseas territory and our commitment to them is unwavering,” he said.
“The Prime Minister made it clear on his first day in office that we will fulfill our international commitments with our allies regarding defense spending and he has not wavered on this,” he reiterated.
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer also referred to the point that has kept London and Washington tense since Trump’s arrival, who is actually using his alliance with Javier Milei and Argentina to pressure British Labour to support his war in the Middle East against Iran.
“They are British and will remain British,” said John Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, about the Falklands or Malvinas, while from the islands information was published regarding economic preparations for the oil industry that a British company and an Israeli one want to carry out starting in 2028.
