Widmer links Trump's Falklands comments to strains in UK-US ties

Milei hints US would back Argentina if it renewed territorial ambitions

Guardian opinion writer Ted Widmer argued in a September 10 column that Donald Trump’s suggestion that he might not help the United Kingdom if Argentina again tried to seize the Falkland Islands marked a new low in UK-US relations. Trump made the suggestion during an interview the previous week with British television channel GB News, Widmer wrote.

Widmer connected the remarks to a subsequent speech by Argentine President Javier Milei, whom he described as a fan of Margaret Thatcher. Milei spoke about “the winds of change,” hinted that the United States would back Argentina if it renewed its territorial ambitions and called the UK a nation “in decline,” according to the column.

Widmer said Trump’s remarks emboldened Milei, whose popularity he put at approximately 37% in July. He described Milei’s speech as intended to shore up his declining popularity.

The dispute widened early that week after the UK announced sanctions on Israeli settlers. Widmer said the announcement drew a reaction from the Trump administration and Israeli threats to recognize Argentine sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.

Widmer predicted that the diplomatic flare-up would fade and that the UK would survive Milei’s speech. He argued, however, that memories would remain of Trump’s words and what he described as the ease with which Trump abandoned Britain during an appearance on British television. Widmer attributed the episode to Trump’s “unfocused complaints” and what he called “surreal fabrications.”

Widmer disputes Trump’s NATO grievance

Widmer wrote that Trump turned the GB News conversation toward his disappointment with the UK’s initial reluctance to support the Iran war launched on February 28 by Israel and the United States. Widmer said the reluctance was understandable because the White House did not consult NATO allies while planning what he called a “sneak attack,” while the war’s goals “were (and remain) imprecise and inconsistent.”

The column described NATO as a defensive alliance intended to resist a Russian invasion from the east, not support a US invasion from the west to seize Greenland from a NATO ally. Widmer also argued that NATO has no role in the Middle East.

Widmer said NATO’s North Atlantic structure connects Canadian and American troops with European partners in an interlocking defense arrangement. He cited roughly 80,000 US troops stationed in Europe, including roughly 10,000 in the UK, and argued that those deployments called for careful vetting of presidential remarks about a NATO ally.

Referendum underpins self-determination argument

Widmer used the Falkland Islands’ 2013 referendum to argue that an Argentine seizure would overturn the result of a democratic election. The column said 99.8% of participating islanders voted to remain connected to the UK, with turnout above 90%. Of 1,517 votes cast, 1,513 favored remaining.

Widmer characterized democratic aspiration as foreign to Trump, whom he identified as the 47th president. He wrote that Democratic presidents had spoken comfortably about democracy and that most Republican presidents had also understood that language.

The column said Richard Nixon lacked that ability. Widmer wrote that George W. Bush got many things wrong, “Iraq above all,” but appeared sincere when discussing the desire of people to be free.

Widmer contrasted Trump with Ronald Reagan, who spoke about people suffering behind the Iron Curtain and in other autocracies. He also wrote that Reagan reflected on how the United States had historically offered hope to disenfranchised people.

Widmer quoted Reagan’s 1989 farewell address: “She’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.”

Widmer said it was impossible to imagine those words coming from the current Oval Office and argued that it would be difficult to find a president more removed from the goals of genuine self-determination.

Historical comparisons frame the alliance

Widmer wrote that the “special relationship,” a phrase he attributed to Winston Churchill, “was never perfect.” He said the UK helped the United States on many occasions, including in Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the United States often stood by the UK as well.

Widmer noted an exception during the Suez Crisis of 1956, when the United States did not support the UK. He contrasted that episode with Ronald Reagan’s government providing significant intelligence and logistical support to Britain during the Falklands conflict in 1982. Widmer concluded that the relationship “is fading fast.”

The column also cited the Atlantic Charter, in which Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated shared UK-US commitments to democracy, free trade and peace in 1941. Widmer wrote that Churchill and Roosevelt issued an anniversary statement about their shared goals and values one year later.

“When victory comes, we shall stand shoulder-to-shoulder in seeking to nourish the great ideals for which we fight,” the anniversary statement said. “It is a worthwhile battle. It will be so recognised through all the ages, even amid the unfortunate peoples who follow false gods today. We reaffirm our principles. They will bring us to a happier world.”

Widmer described the statement as wistful reading at a time when the language of great ideals appeared dated.

Widmer is a former White House speechwriter and the author of the anthology American Speeches. His most recent book is The Living Declaration: A Biography of America’s Founding Text, published by Library of America.