Next week, the King is set to encounter a diplomatic whirlwind as he embarks on a state visit to the United States, stirred by tensions surrounding the Falkland Islands.
In the lead-up to his journey across the Atlantic, an escalating situation has emerged, with the U.S. signaling potential support for Argentina’s claims over the South Atlantic islands, which are a British territory.
A leaked email from the Pentagon has revealed that Donald Trump is contemplating withdrawing American support for the UK’s sovereignty over the Falklands. This move is part of a broader strategy to ‘penalize’ Western nations he believes insufficiently backed his military actions in Iran.
The leak has sparked a wave of indignation among British veterans, political figures, and the residents of the Falklands, where a staggering 99.8 percent of the population has expressed a desire to remain under British governance.
On Friday, Keir Starmer firmly declared that the UK’s sovereignty over the islands will remain unchanged, while SAS veteran Robin Horsfall urged government officials to respond to President Trump with the ‘contempt and disdain he deserves.’
However, Downing Street has not clarified whether the UK still possesses the military capability to defend the Falklands, given the current weakened state of the Navy. When questioned, a spokesperson for Sir Keir dismissed the issue as ‘hypothetical.’
There are concerns Argentina’s hard–Right leader, and Trump ally, Javier Milei could be emboldened by a change in US policy. Just this week, he said he was doing ‘everything humanly possible’ to claim the islands.
And last night Argentina’s foreign minister Pablo Quirno said the country wanted to ‘resume bilateral negotiations with the UK’ to ‘bring an end to the special and particular colonial situation in which they are immersed’.
He added: ‘By history, by right, and by conviction: the Malvinas [Falkland Islands] are Argentine.’
There are currently just four Typhoon fighter jets on the islands along with HMS Medway – a Batch 2 River–class offshore patrol vessel – and 1,200 to 1,500 military and civilian personnel at RAF Mount Pleasant.
King Charles III with President Trump in September last year. As Charles prepared for his latest transatlantic trip, a leaked memo suggested the US had threatened to back Argentina’s claim to the South Atlantic island
British troops in the Falklands in 1982 during the war with Argentina. Downing Street was unable to say whether the UK was still capable of defending the archipelago given the parlous state of the Navy. Asked twice, Sir Keir’s spokesman called it a ‘hypothetical’ issue
In 1982, it took a force of 26,000 men, two aircraft carriers, assault ships, destroyers, frigates, submarines, dozens of fighter jets and bombers to liberate the islands after Buenos Aires invaded.
When the RAF base on Cyprus was attacked by Iranian proxies at the beginning of the current Middle East conflict, it took three weeks to get a warship to the Mediterranean.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are due to touch down in Washington DC on Monday ahead of a banquet dinner at the White House the following day.
There had already been calls from the Left for the trip to be cancelled after Mr Trump repeatedly mocked and humiliated Sir Keir for not supporting his military campaign.
An internal memo seen by Reuters floated reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European ‘imperial possessions’ such as the islands.
The US is also considering kicking Spain out of Nato for refusing to let its fighter jets use key bases or even fly in its air space.
British Army veteran Simon Weston, 64, who suffered severe burns during the war, said: ‘What it [the Falklands] has to do with Mr Trump, I have no idea.
‘He should leave the islanders alone and sort out the problems he created himself. Stop blaming others. He can’t be a schoolyard bully. If he’s got a dispute with Mr Starmer then deal with Mr Starmer – don’t bring the islanders into it.
‘The rest of the world is not his toy to play with.’
![British Army veteran Simon Weston (pictured), 64, who suffered severe burns during the war, said: 'What it [the Falklands] has to do with Mr Trump, I have no idea'](https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/04/24/21/108142287-15763557-image-a-4_1777062456075.jpg)
British Army veteran Simon Weston (pictured), 64, who suffered severe burns during the war, said: ‘What it [the Falklands] has to do with Mr Trump, I have no idea’
Trump and the King during last year’s state visit. Charles and Camilla are due to touch down in Washington DC on Monday ahead of a banquet dinner at the White House the following day
Mr Trump is making threats after Britain refused to back his Iran war. He has been trying to pressure Nato colleagues into joining his efforts, claiming support should be ‘automatic’. The alliance’s Article Five treats an attack on one member as an attack on all. It has been invoked only once in 77 years – after 9/11.
President Ronald Reagan refused to come to Britain’s aid in 1982, when the 74–day Falklands War saw 255 Britons killed and 775 wounded.
Mr Horsfall, a veteran of both the Falklands and the Iranian Embassy siege, told the Mail: ‘It [the Argentine invasion] was an attack on a Nato state and Article Five wasn’t invoked.
‘Behind the scenes Reagan supported us with a certain amount of material, arms, ammunition, satellite and so on, but they kept out of it.
‘Trump’s obviously playing some stupid games with King Charles before he gets there. The whole thing is ridiculous.
‘I think the visit is a disgrace. I think it’s a political disaster. He is going there to be humiliated by this moron. You’ve got to treat Trump with the contempt and disdain that he deserves.’
Mr Trump told Reuters the topics he will discuss with King Charles next week included Iran, Nato and the UK’s digital services tax.
Sir Keir’s spokesman said: ‘We could not be clearer about the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands. Sovereignty rests with the UK, and the islands’ right to self–determination is paramount.’
International relations expert Professor Peter Clegg said Mr Milei was ‘marginally less uncompromising’ than his predecessors, but ‘the territorial claim itself remains unchanged’.
He said ‘direct US pressure on companies involved in planned activities such as oil exploration could have an effect’ in the long run.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘The Falkland Islands are British. They have been for a very long time. The sovereignty is British sovereignty.’
A Falklands government spokesman said it had ‘complete confidence in the commitment made by the UK to uphold and defend our right of self–determination’.
