Despite the hostile geopolitical tone, many here are putting on a brave face.
“Yesterday, we had a chance to chat over a cup of tea about our first trade dispute, the Boston Tea Party,” Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the British House of Commons, said Tuesday in his introductory remarks. “We’ve only just about forgiven you for that trade dispute, so I’ll say no more about any others.”
He barely referenced the nadir to which transatlantic ties have plummeted.
Britain and other European countries are well used to Trump’s approach, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer one of many who have tried to use flattery and deference to curry favor with the American leader.
But Trump’s comments this week — refusing to rule out military action to seize Greenland and then reversing on Chagos — were viewed as a humiliating setback for those, like Starmer, who have worked hard to present a united front with Washington.
Trump had previously supported the U.K.’s decision in May last year to sign a 3.4 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) deal to hand back the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. The Indian Ocean nation had argued that it was illegally forced to give away the archipelago to gain independence from Britain.
As part of the deal, the U.K. and U.S. will retain a 99-year lease of the Diego Garcia military base.
Trump slammed this in a Truth Social post as an act of “total weakness.”
The British government defended its decision Tuesday, with a spokesman saying the deal had secured the future of the military base “for generations” and noting that it was supported by Washington and other allies.
