UK weighing future of 3% defense spending pledge
“I always review every position – that’s just one of many,” President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, in response to a question about whether he was reviewing the US position over the Falkland Islands, an archipelago whose status has long been disputed by Argentina. The Guardian described the exchange as the clearest public indication yet that the Trump administration is open to reconsidering its stance on the long-running dispute.
Officially, the United States takes a neutral position on who holds rightful sovereignty over the islands, which Britain first claimed in the late 17th century and has held almost continuously since 1833. In practice, Washington recognizes British administration of the territory, the site of an Argentinian invasion and subsequent military conflict with Britain in 1982.
The Guardian reported that the comments followed an unnamed US official being cited as saying Washington could change its position over the islands if Britain failed to meet its defense spending commitments. The Guardian tied the timing to reports that UK Chancellor John Healey was preparing to drop Britain’s prior commitment to devote 3% of GDP to defense spending by 2030 when he delivers his first budget on October 28.
Trump has made pressing US allies to boost defense budgets and NATO contributions a priority during both his presidencies, accusing other countries of “freeloading.” At a summit in The Hague last year, NATO allies committed to spending 5% of GDP on defense and security-related expenditures by 2035.
A leaked Pentagon email in April had suggested reviewing Britain’s claim in response to Britain’s lack of support for Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran, The Guardian reported. Speculation about a possible US switch had been circulating for months.
The current dispute echoes the 1982 Falklands War, when Argentina invaded the islands and Margaret Thatcher’s government dispatched a naval taskforce that eventually recovered them. Some 649 Argentinian and 255 British personnel died in fighting before Argentina’s forces surrendered in June 1982. Ronald Reagan’s diplomatic support for Britain during the conflict, despite Washington also being an ally of the Argentinian military junta, cemented the bond between Thatcher and Reagan.
In recent years, Trump has become close to Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, who attended Trump’s second inauguration in January last year. Trump authorized a $20bn financial lifeline to Argentina last year to help it navigate a financial crisis, but made the funds contingent on Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party winning subsequent congressional elections. The party won, confounding pollsters’ forecasts. Trump later authorized imports of Argentinian beef in an effort to reduce US grocery prices.
Milei has vocally supported Argentina’s claim to the islands. In a 2013 poll, 1,513 of 1,517 Falklands residents who cast a ballot said they wanted the territory to remain part of the UK.
The sovereignty question surfaced during the World Cup in July, when celebrating Argentinian players unfurled a banner reading “Las Malvinas son Argentinas” — the Falklands are Argentinian — after a 2-1 victory over England in the semi-final. The Argentinian football association was subsequently fined $235,000 by Fifa for violating its rules on non-sporting demonstrations.
The Guardian wrote that a switch in US position would represent a psychological blow to Britain’s sovereignty over the Falklands, a status the country has defended militarily and diplomatically for more than four decades.