During the week of August 31, President Donald Trump suggested in an interview with the British TV channel GB News that he might not help the UK should Argentina attempt to seize the Falkland Islands again. During the interview, Trump also mentioned his disappointment with the UK’s initial reluctance to provide support when the US and Israel launched their offensive against Iran on February 28.
Modern history has seen the UK assist the US on several key occasions, including the wars in the Korean Peninsula, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The US has also historically provided support to the UK, in particular when Ronald Reagan’s government provided intelligence and logistics to Britain during the 1982 conflict between the UK and Argentina over the Falkland Islands.
But what, exactly, do we know about the conflict between Argentina and the UK that Trump referred to in his recent interview?
On April 2, 1982, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands, sparking an undeclared 74-day war that grabbed international headlines. Despite being some 8,000 miles away (over 12,500 km), Britain’s Royal Navy sailed south to retake the remote territory.
So, what drove both nations to fight over a tiny South Atlantic archipelago, and how did the victory alter political fortunes in London and Buenos Aires? Click on to uncover the full story.