US could review Britain’s claim to Falkland Islands, email shows ahead of King Charles visit

The US-UK rift is taking another dramatic turn as Washington is considering reviewing Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands to punish the country over its lack of support in the Iran conflict.

According to an internal Pentagon leaked email and reported by The Telegraph, the idea of reviewing UK’s claim was pitched by a US official, urging the US to reassess its diplomatic support for European “imperial possessions”, including the Falklands.

The email also enlisted possible punishments that Trump could mete out to Nato allies after they refrained from helping US in the war against the US.

Washington should suspend Spain from Nato because of its vehement criticism of the war and keeping “difficult countries” from prestigious positions in military alliance.

The recent development comes as Trump also threatened to impose big tariffs on the UK if the country does not abandon its digital services tax policy, which levied 2 percent on US social media companies.

“If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK…They think they’re going to make an easy buck, that’s why they’ve all taken advantage of our country,” Trump said.

The possible review of the status highlights how deepening the rift between the US and UK has become due to Britain’s unwillingness to support the Trump administration in the Middle East.

In a significant move for UK-US relations, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer declined a request from Washington to utilize British military assets, specifically the base at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands, for offensive operations against Iran.

Falkland Island settlement is already a point of deep contention between the UK and Argentina.

According to Britain, its claims are legally and morally reinforced by the wishes of the people living there. But, Argentina negates these claims.

During the Falklands War in 1982, the Reagan administration supported UK’s efforts to retake the islands from the invading Argentinians, having initially remained neutral.

The announcement follows King Charles III and Queen Camilla's state visit to the US next week. Despite having soured relations with UK, Trump claimed that the upcoming visit could help repair relations with the UK.