MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US weighs withdrawing diplomatic support for UK over Falklands

The document, circulating at senior Pentagon levels, lists punitive options against countries that refused to grant the US access, basing, and overflight rights during the Iran offensive

An internal Pentagon email is considering the withdrawal of US diplomatic support for the United Kingdom in its dispute with Argentina over the Falklands as part of a package of retaliatory measures targeting NATO allies that did not back US military operations in the war with Iran, which began on February 28 of this year. The revelation was published on Friday by Reuters, based on a leaked memorandum and confirmed by a US official speaking on condition of anonymity.

The document, circulating at the highest levels of the Department of Defense, lists various punitive options aimed at countries that, according to the Trump administration, refused to grant access, basing, and overflight rights — known by the acronym ABO — during the offensive against Tehran. The memo describes those rights as “just the absolute baseline for NATO.”

Among the options under consideration are the suspension of Spain from NATO; the removal of “difficult” countries from important positions within the alliance; and the reconsideration of US diplomatic support for what the document describes as longstanding European “imperial possessions,” a category in which it expressly includes the Falkland Islands. The State Department's website acknowledges that the islands are administered by the United Kingdom but remain claimed by Argentina, whose president, Javier Milei, maintains a close political alliance with Trump.

The British reaction was immediate. A spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer downplayed the leak and reaffirmed London's position: “We could not be clearer on the UK's position on the islands. It is a longstanding position and it has not changed.” In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly insulted Starmer over his decision not to join the US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, calling him a coward, stating he is “no Winston Churchill,” and describing British aircraft carriers as “toys.”

In parallel, the email expresses frustration with Spain following the refusal of Pedro Sánchez's government to allow the use of Spanish bases and airspace in the offensive against Iran. The United States operates from two key installations on Spanish territory: the Rota Naval Base and the Morón Air Base. Asked about the leak ahead of the European Union summit in Cyprus, Sánchez declined to give it institutional weight: “We do not work off emails. We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States,” and ratified that Spain is “a loyal partner” within NATO.

Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson did not deny the existence of the document. “As President Trump has said, despite everything that the United States has done for our NATO allies, they were not there for us,” he said. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned earlier this month that “you don't have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” and stressed that Iran's long-range missiles cannot reach US territory but can strike European targets.

The 1982 Falklands War left 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British service members, and three island civilians dead. Sovereignty over the archipelago has been a claim continuously upheld by every Argentine government since 1833.