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As King Charles arrives in Washington, fears are growing over whether Donald Trump could shift US policy on the Falklands and back Argentina’s claim. Andrew Marr examines the diplomatic risks with Victoria Coates, former Deputy National Security Advisor to Trump in his first term, and Vice-Admiral Duncan Potts, former Assistant Chief of Naval Staff and Controller of the Navy from 2013 to 2014, who has previously been deployed to the Falkland Islands. Former Vice-Admiral Duncan Potts also explains why the Falklands remain strategically defended — and why tensions in the Strait of Hormuz could become a much wider threat to global trade. 00:00 | Andrew Marr intro: Will Trump back Argentina? 02:02 | Victoria Coates: Why US anger at Starmer matters 07:20 | Vice-Admiral Duncan Potts: Can Britain defend the Falklands? 09:48 | Why global trade is at risk Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #andrewmarr #trump #donaldtrump #iran #falklandislands #falklands #argentina #keirstarmer #kingcharles #statevisit #washington #politics #uspolitics #news #LBC LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK. Join in the conversation and listen at https://www.lbc.co.uk/ Sign up to LBC’s weekly newsletter here: https://l-bc.co/signup
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0:00
This visit by King Charles to Washington, to the court of the Orange Emperor
0:04
I really hope it goes well, and in conventional terms I suspect it will
0:09
But without wishing any ill, I think it is sensible to adjust our expectations
0:16
Donald Trump likes the king certainly a lot more than he likes Keir Starmer
0:20
The welcome will be warm, the words warmer still. But this won't change by a jot or tittle US policy to the UK
0:29
Trump has his worldview and he is furious about everybody not joining in in his grossly misconceived war on Iran
0:37
He will dish out the punishment he always intended to. From our point of view, the big question is whether he changes direction on the issue of the Falklands Islands
0:46
and supports the Argentinian claim and everything that follows from that. In a highly aggressive intervention, the deputy Argentine president said earlier today
0:55
that the UK must discuss the sovereignty of the islands with her
0:59
and added, referring to a local nickname for the islanders, the Kelpers are English people who live in Argentine territory
1:07
They are not part of the discussion. If they feel English, they should go back the thousands of miles away
1:14
where their country is. Well, we're certainly no longer able to send the kind of task force
1:19
that Margaret Thatcher did in 1982. Tory cuts and Labour inaction have seen to that
1:25
But my guess, and it's only a guess, is that this was an anti-British Washington thought experiment
1:30
and hasn't made it to official US policy and probably won't. The rabbit-out-of-the-crown moment might be Trump saying something reassuring about this
1:40
Welcome, if so, but I wouldn't bank on it yet. The risks may be on the margins of this royal visit, but they are very real
1:48
I would still much prefer it hadn't gone ahead, but it is, So let's talk to Victoria Coates, President Trump's former deputy national security advisor
1:56
I asked her how seriously she thinks the U.S. are considering supporting Argentina over the Falklands
2:02
Well, Andrew, it's great to be with you. And I think it's really important to bear in mind this was an internal Pentagon memo
2:09
outlining some different ideas that would help the administration express, particularly to European NATO allies, some very deep concerns about what was exposed during
2:21
Operation Epic Fury with Iran. And so I think you should see this more as sort of a thought piece
2:28
as here are some ideas, rather than declared policy out of the National Security Council
2:34
which is what I would look to for that kind of official position. But I do think it's really
2:40
important We at Heritage have our views on the Falklands Obviously the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom is part of the Davis Institute which I run there So we take that very very seriously and Lady Thatcher
2:55
legacy. But at the same time, I think it's really important for your audience to know
2:59
how unhappy everyone in the United States is up to and including the president with Prime Minister
3:06
Starmer's performance during Epic Fury. And so, you know, I don't know that this is an idea. I
3:12
would personally pursue, but I think that broader unhappiness is important. So we should take it seriously as an expression of anger, but not necessarily as a fully settled policy
3:23
Absolutely. And I wouldn't see it so much as anger as concern about the relationship. And
3:28
it's been such a bulwark of American and British security over the course of most of our 250 years
3:36
that we're celebrating this year, if you set aside the original unpleasantness. But that is
3:42
a critical relationship for us. It's economic, it's security, it's intelligence. And it shouldn't
3:47
matter who the president or who the prime minister are. That relationship should be above politics
3:53
And I was pleased at the beginning of 2025 when it really seemed to be a good working relationship
3:59
between them. But a lot of the things that Prime Minister Starmer has done over the course of the
4:04
last six months have caused enormous problems for the United States. And I would see this as a symptom
4:09
of that. Let me just push back a little bit on the Falklands issue, because the idea comes from
4:14
Elbridge Colby, who is a senior Pentagon adviser. I mean, he's got quite a senior position
4:19
inside the administration, and therefore it could be taken seriously, perhaps. And also
4:25
it's being taken seriously in Buenos Aires, where the deputy prime minister there has said that the
4:29
UK now needs to reopen talks on sovereignty and the islanders should go home to Britain
4:35
Bridge Colby is the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, one of the sort of second level—you had secretary, deputy secretary, then the undersecretary
4:45
So it is, yes, a very important position, but that's a policy position within the Department of War
4:52
And so I think Bridge is an important person. He's a friend of mine
4:57
I worked with him very closely in the first Trump term on the national security strategy
5:02
He's a very serious person. So, you know, I'm not saying take this lightly
5:07
I'm saying this is an idea that Bridge had. And so, you know, it signals this broader unhappiness
5:14
But I would wait until we hear actually from the president to see that as declared U.S. policy
5:21
I guess it's going to be one of the issues hanging around during the royal visit when King Charles arrives in Washington
5:27
Now, it appears the two men get on quite well. What do you think the political impact of this will be Because it seems to me that it happens at one level it about the relationship between the two countries but it probably won affect President Trump view of Starmer or the British government
5:43
Well, but I think it does go to that issue of the strength of the historic relationship between our
5:49
two peoples and that the president has great respect for King Charles and Queen Camilla
5:54
as he had for Her Majesty Elizabeth II. And, you know, his mother was Scottish, and so he has a
6:01
real affinity for the United Kingdom. And so I think that will be on full display. I think it's
6:06
a really good moment to have this visit and have these images, rather, of U.S.-U.K. solidarity
6:15
And I'm sure in their private conversations that His Majesty will express, you know, his position
6:20
on this and maybe, you know, go through the sensitivities of the Falklands and that legacy
6:27
in the UK. And, you know, when it's couched as an issue of British sovereignty, I think
6:33
you know, you might see a slightly different approach taken. And would you hope that the king acts, as it were, as a messenger between London and Washington
6:41
bringing messages from, you know, the British system to the American one and then perhaps back again
6:46
Well, that's a pretty high level to have a messenger. But I think, you know, in this case, it's a good channel of communication, hopefully get things on a more even keel and maybe, you know, smooth some of these waters so we can move forward more productively
7:05
Victoria Coat, as ever, great to talk to you. Thanks for joining us in LBC
7:09
Thank you, Andrew. How well or badly equipped are we? Vice Admiral Duncan Potts is former Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff
7:16
and Controller of the Navy, and he joins me now. Duncan Potts, thank you very much indeed for joining LBC
7:23
Do I refer to you as Admiral or Vice Admiral? How do I properly refer to you
7:27
Well, Andrew, you can call me whatever you want, but Duncan will suffice as well
7:31
Well, let's stick with Duncan in that case. Of course, you know the Falklands, you've served there
7:37
you've been close to it. A lot of us are wondering if policy suddenly changes and the White House says, no, we are now with Argentina and we agree there should be a proper negotiation and the British really have to come to the table and discuss the future of the sovereignty of the islands
7:54
Are we effectively undefended in the South Atlantic these days? Well, the Falklands is a very different place militarily than it was prior to 1982
8:04
There's a well-found air base there. We have Typhoon air defence aircraft, ground-to-air missiles
8:13
We have a patrol ship down there, and we have a resident garrison. And we have done since 1982 So as a deterrent and of course getting to the islands from Argentina it is 300 miles away And you know we heading towards the Austral winter
8:29
It's a fairly major operation to undertake. So we do have a deterrent force down there
8:36
Well, I just had one thing about the Falklands that people are missing here is that it's easy to paint this as a sort of post-colonial thing with, you know, the Brits again
8:46
But of course, the Falklands was uninhabited until the French and the Spanish and then the British discovered it
8:54
There was no native population. It's been British since 1833. So, you know, the arguments, I mean, we've been talking about Diego Garcia for some time
9:05
The arguments are very, very different in this case. And presumably, although we could not reassemble the kind of task force we saw in 1982
9:14
there are still naval facilities that could be used if there was a more serious threat
9:20
Yeah, and air facilities and bases and air defence. And, you know, as we found in A82, getting a nuclear submarine down there very quickly
9:29
is a very vexing deterrent for anyone. Now, I know that you are also a bit of an expert on the Strait of Hormuz and all of that
9:38
Can I ask you, the Iranians are now saying that they could possibly reopen the Strait
9:44
if a new round of negotiations goes well. How difficult will it be one day to reopen that strait
9:50
in terms of the number of mines bobbing around and the uncertainty around the shoreline
9:56
Well, this situation's been going on for years. You know, those were the memories going back to the 1980s
10:03
which, incidentally, the summer of 1982, I was in the straits of Hormuz, not the Falklands
10:08
So it's been going on for a long time during the tank war
10:12
And Iran has asserted this right of control for many years. But the reality is, under international maritime law, that it's an international state recognized as such and is free for every nation on the planet to use
10:31
And one of my big concerns with everything that's going on, this asserting, you know, they can tax, they can troll
10:38
if somehow that becomes a new precedent and that happens, that will resonate elsewhere
10:44
You know, the high north is opening up as the ice melts, the South China Sea and many other international straits
10:52
such as Babel Mende, which we've been hearing so much about in recent years
10:57
These are vital arteries for global trade, and 90% of trade goes by sea
11:02
So this is a genuine threat to global trade around the world
11:06
not just in the Strait of Hormuz. Duncan Potts, thank you very, very much indeed for joining LBC tonight
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