Trump’s ‘pawn’ to punish Britain for not backing Iran battle as President ‘performs video games’

Despite poll showing 99.8% of Falkland Islanders want to remain British, there is a ‘nervousness’ that Argentina is re-arming and planning another sovereignty bid

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Donald Trump is using the Falklands as a ‘pawn’ to punish Britain for not backing his Iran war, according to the head of the Islands’ government.

Dr Andrea Clausen said locals felt insulted by America and Argentina’s political ‘games’ over the territory’s future. She spoke out after a leaked Pentagon memo claimed the US would ‘review’ the UK’s sovereignty claim on the South Atlantic archipelago.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed the leak as ‘just an email’ – downplaying the chances of the US backing Argentine claims to the land.

But Argentina president Javier Milei – a close ally of Trump’s – insisted the Falklands ‘were, are and will always be Argentine’. His deputy Victoria Villarruel said all Brits living on the islands should ‘go back to England’.

Dr Clausen, the chief executive of the Falkland Islands’ government, said the comments were ‘very frustrating’ and ‘belittling’ and ignored the will of the islanders to determine their own future.

She said: “There are a lot of big games being played by a lot of people and we might be a very useful pawn for somebody.

“As a nation we are fundamentally resilient, vociferous, political, and fiercely independent – but very British. We’ve been British since 1833 – before Argentina existed, just so we’re clear.”

Argentina invaded the Islands in 1982, triggering the Falklands War.

Then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher responded by sending a military task force, which retook the territory after 10 weeks of fighting.

The conflict resulted in the deaths of 255 British servicemen, three Islanders and 649 Argentine troops.

The Falklands government said 99.8% of Islanders voted for them to remain a British Overseas Territory in an independence referendum in 2013.

Argentina views the vote as a sham and has accused the UK of fixing it.

Last week, one of America’s naval battle groups led by the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was seen sailing alongside Argentine warships in the South Atlantic.

Though the US military insisted the encounter was part of a ‘bilateral engagement’ between the two nations many Islanders felt uneasy about the display of force.

They fear Argentina is seeking to rearm having recently agreed a multi-million-pound deal to buy new F-16 fighter jets.

Argentine foreign minister Pablo Quirno has demanded an end to British ‘colonialism’ and new bilateral negotiations to achieve a ‘peaceful and definitive solution’.

Dr Clausen – who has a framed copy of Argentina’s 1982 surrender letter on the wall of her office – accused Buenos Aires of brazenly ignoring the views of the residents.

“It demonstrates a complete lack of respect and understanding for another people on this planet who are just quietly trying to get on, develop their own economy, look after their own people and make the Falklands a great place to be and to live,” she said.

“Sadly, we all know the games that people like to play and we just have to navigate our way through that and try not to get dragged into it as much as possible.”

Jack Ford, 27, one of the Islands’ eight elected members of the Legislative Assembly, said there was now a ‘nervousness’ among locals about Argentina.

“There is still a threat hanging over us all the time which isn’t going to go away any time soon,” he said.

He claimed Argentina was trying to make things more difficult for the Islands and its 3,600 inhabitants.

“We’re a small, democratic, peaceful nation and are being bullied by a much larger nation next door,” he said.

Sir Keir Starmer criticised the Trump administration shortly after the emails were leaked. Veterans accused the US President of ‘bullying’, while Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the UK’s commitment to the Falklands was ‘unwavering’.