Up next in 10
Simon Marks joins James O’Brien as Donald Trump is looking for ways to punish NATO countries for not supporting the Iran War, including reviewing Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands. Options are being detailed in an email in which some NATO members have been named and shamed for not permitting the US access to bases, or overflight rights, for the Iran War, according to officials. One of the options mentioned is reassessing US diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” attached to Europe, including the Falkland Islands, according to Reuters. Ownership over the British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic has long been contested by Argentina. Tensions over the territory's sovereignty led to war under Margaret Thatcher, when Argentinian forces invaded the islands in 1982. The current leader of Argentina, Javier Milei, is one of Trump’s closest allies. Britain initially blocked the US from using its bases to attack Iran, but following retaliatory Iranian airstrikes, it relented and allowed defensive operations to “protect British interests”. Listen to the full show on the all-new LBC App: https://app.af.lbc.co.uk/btnc/thenewlbcapp #jamesobrien #simonmarks #LBC #debate #news #usnews #uspolitics #trump #donaldtrump 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
We should probably begin with the Falkland Islands
0:02
Yes, absolutely, James. And I think we should probably begin with the fact that you and I have both missed a major chance here
0:09
Because if 24 hours ago we had placed a bet on Polymarket or Calci
0:14
to say that we'd be talking today about the Falkland Islands, we would be quids in, a bit like the soldier here
0:20
who was suddenly accused last night of placing bets on one of those two platforms over the military operation in Venezuela
0:27
and trousering $400,000, who's now been arrested. Look, it is extraordinary that as we wait for the King and the Queen
0:36
to arrive here in Washington next week, we are now talking about the Falkland Islands
0:42
because of this leaked Pentagon document that suggests that in a whole raft of reprisals
0:49
that the United States and the Trump administration is thinking of taking towards NATO members
0:56
One of them is to renounce the notion that the UK has any sovereign right to the Falkland Islands
1:04
which of course would be a massive gift to Donald Trump's mucker in Buenos Aires, Javier Millay
1:11
and would also, very neatly from Donald Trump's perspective, further punish Keir Starmer
1:18
something that he can't stop talking about here, even as we prepare for the state visit by the King and Queen
1:28
that is supposed to be marking the beginning of America's 250th birthday commemorations
1:35
So this plan, apparently, potentially, to pull support for British sovereignty towards the Falklands
1:43
at least to question it. One measure that's included in that document that has been
1:49
leaked from the Pentagon, one has to wonder about the timing of this leak. But it also demonstrates
1:57
much more importantly and much more broadly that the Trump administration and the president is
2:02
absolutely still thinking about pulling out of NATO because he's so furious, he says, over NATO
2:10
failing the test that he set for the alliance in Iran. And so earlier this month, he was asked by the news agency Reuters
2:18
whether he was still thinking about pulling out of NATO. And he said, well, wouldn't you be thinking about it if you were in my shoes
2:25
And it's absolutely evident that both he, Secretary of State Marco Rubio now
2:30
Vice President J.D. Vance are aligned, and obviously the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth
2:35
presiding over this document at the Pentagon, absolutely aligned in terms of threatening to pull the rug out completely
2:42
from under the transatlantic alliance that has kept the peace in Europe for eight decades
2:48
I mean, it is mind-boggling, isn't it? I know we do this often, get used to it for a while
2:53
talk about it for a while, normalise it for a while, and then some sort of metaphorical bomb goes off
2:57
and you recognise just how absolutely insane almost everything has become. Hard even to think of a rationale
3:05
I mean, questions I would have asked you 12 months ago before all of this became commonplace
3:09
Are people like Rubio on board with this genuinely in their bones
3:14
or are they just acting opportunistically and doing whatever the president wants
3:19
What rationale could there be for this? Is Vladimir Putin yanking Trump's lead
3:26
I mean, the only person who would celebrate the collapse of NATO, or indeed the removal of the United Kingdom from the European Union on the international stage
3:33
would be our enemies. and yet the United States is still supposed to be our ally
3:38
But we don't know the answer to any of these questions, do we? Really
3:42
Well, I do think it's important to put into its historical context
3:47
the Falklands and the United States and its relationship with the UK because you and I were both young lads when that war took place and remember that at the time President Ronald Reagan was very dubious about Margaret
4:02
Thatcher's decision to send the fleet to the South Atlantic and indeed was urging her on numerous
4:09
occasions to strike a deal, a phrase that of course has even more resonance now than it did
4:16
back in 1982 with the Argentinian government and she absolutely pushed back and said no we've got
4:22
to draw a line if not in the sand in the water certainly a line on the soil of the Falkland
4:28
Islands and make it absolutely clear that the aggression of the Argentinians was not going to
4:33
stand so America has always been dating back to 1982 wobbly on the Falklands what the Trump
4:40
administration would say is their national security strategy decrees that the western hemisphere
4:46
is their unique sphere of influence they've demonstrated through the attack on venezuela
4:52
and through various other things they've been up to including the conversations they're having
4:56
with the government of cuba that they intend to be the dominant power in america's own latin
5:02
american backyard and uh donald trump is furious obviously with the prime minister not only furious
5:09
with the Prime Minister, wants to undermine the Prime Minister at every turn in order to grease the wheels of Nigel Farage
5:17
and Reform UK in an effort to get his man into number 10 Downing Street
5:23
And so this is all red-lip of the fact that... Another Vladimir Putin fan
5:27
I mean, I don't think we should stop mentioning that. It's out there in place
5:32
No, well, and speaking of Vladimir Putin, I mean, the other thing we learnt last night
5:37
which is going to be a massive challenge for number 10, is that the President of the United States intends to invite Vladimir Putin to attend the G20 summit
5:46
that is going to be held on the outskirts of Miami at Donald Trump's own golf club
5:52
just to underscore the nature of the event, in October. And that is going to be a massive problem for Number 10, for the Elysee Palace
6:03
for leaders throughout the G20, who will now have to decide two things
6:09
One, are they willing to attend a G20 that's going to be held at Donald Trump's personal property
6:15
The White House says he's going to make no money out of it, but precisely what that looks like has not been, of course, divulged
6:23
But number two, are they going to show up at an event where Vladimir Putin
6:27
a wanted war criminal, is going to be welcomed quite literally into the bosom of the Trump business empire
6:35
so that is another question that is hanging over the royal visit the relationship with number 10
6:43
and again the fact that it was disclosed last night revealed last night that that invitation
6:49
by the state department is apparently about to go out to the kremlin seems not to be entirely
6:55
coincidental pretty much every other country around that table would would arrest vladimir
7:02
Putin if he set foot on their soil. What would be required to arrest him because of their support
7:09
for the tribunal. The United States, of course, as we've already seen through Vladimir Putin
7:13
setting foot on Alaskan soil, the first time the Russian leader had been welcomed to set foot on
7:18
American soil in over a decade. As we've seen through that first summit and now this apparent
7:25
invitation that's going to him to attend the G20, this administration has absolutely no compunction
7:31
about allowing him to set foot on American soil, because they, of course, argue they're not bound by the arrest warrant
7:38
Yeah, same with Netanyahu, actually, while we're discussing such matters. Yes, correct
7:44
Well thank goodness then despite all of this that Donald Trump hasn been rude about any of the king children given the imminence of the state visit Yeah well why don we have a listen to
7:55
what Donald Trump had to say yesterday about the upcoming state visit. And listen to all of this
8:02
because it is so revealing on multiple levels. It all started with a question to the president
8:08
yesterday about Prince Harry. Prince Harry today has said that he would like to see you do more
8:14
to end the war in Ukraine. Do you think it's appropriate for a royal to make those comments
8:18
ahead of the visit on Monday? Prince Harry? Yes, sir. How's he doing? How's his wife
8:23
Please give him my regards, okay? No, I don't know. I know one thing
8:28
Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK. That's for sure. I think I'm speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry
8:37
But I appreciate his advice very much. Would you invite him to the dinner and to the state visit
8:42
Well, I look forward to the dinner. And we're having King Charles come. He's a friend of mine. We're really looking forward to it
8:47
We've spoken. And we're going to have a great time. I tell you, if I had that ballroom built, it would be full
8:53
I wish we had more seats. We're going to have very great people that love the UK
8:58
I love the UK. I think they made a big mistake on energy
9:02
You should open up the North Sea in Aberdeen. You should open it up
9:07
And the other thing is they've made a big mistake on immigration. now there's an awful lot in that starting with the sarcasm that the president offers when he's
9:17
asked about prince harry and megan markle he has disdain for both of them that's on the public
9:23
record going back a long while then getting to a point where he actually says i'm speaking for the
9:30
uk which of course is a ludicrous position for any president of the united states to take
9:36
when referring to any other government. But then we get absolute clarity about the eggshells
9:44
upon which the King and the Queen will be walking next week
9:48
when they are here in Washington, D.C. I mean, he goes off on the riff about the ballroom
9:53
and we cut that down a bit because it's a long riff about the ballroom
9:57
but he immediately goes to the ballroom and it's a great shame he hasn't got more seats for the dinner that's going to be taking place next week
10:03
but then manages to take himself immediately to hitting out at the prime minister and once again
10:11
raising the issue that he believes the prime minister is major made a major mistake by failing
10:16
to authorize more drilling in the north sea off the coast of abadinshire for oil and of course by
10:22
not supporting him on iran so how all of this is going to be choreographed next week you know when
10:29
the king and the queen are with him and when they are not with him and he has access to reporters
10:36
including now uh propagandists in that white house briefing room who are going to ask questions
10:44
about the president's view of the uk even while the king and queen are here is he going to uh
10:52
adopt normal convention and basically zip it and basically button it until they've gone
10:59
or even, and then after that, of course, it'll be open season again
11:03
But even while they're here, there's a tremendous risk that it's going to be open season again
11:08
Do you, briefly, do you think he can? Do you actually, I mean, you watch him more closely than most people do
11:14
No, he's not capable of doing what you've just described, is he? No
11:18
No, not capable. Not capable of being in a position where he stops transmitting
11:24
This is a man who is transmitting 24-7, whether it's verbally, in person with reporters, on his social media feed, even this week, texting reporters
11:35
Because he actually thinks transmitting is governing Right And he doesn understand that governing is stuff that you do when you off camera when you not in front of reporters when you not constantly messaging He thinks he conflates the two They both the same
11:53
John Phelan, finally. Who's he and what's happened? Well, he was the US Secretary of the Navy and he was suddenly defenestrated by Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, a couple of nights ago, to everyone's great surprise
12:07
We all thought they must have had a row over the stewardship of the Iran war
12:13
And the conduct of the United States was interesting, by the way, to hear President Trump yesterday insist that he won't use nuclear weapons on Iran
12:20
At least that was put on the record yesterday. We now know that the reasons for John Phelan's departure relate directly to presidential anger over the fact that the Navy secretary was deemed to be dragging his feet over the commissioning of $17 billion worth of new battleships that, and I am not making this up, the president wants to name after himself
12:49
Trump-class battleships that are going to be equipped with rail guns and laser-guided weapons systems that the Pentagon itself concedes
12:59
have not so far performed flawlessly in testing. So big questions about a lot of the technology that's supposed to be..
13:07
going to be included in these fast, custom-designed battleships that President Trump has shown us the designs of
13:15
in various White House events over the last few months. Phelan was accused by the president of dragging his feet and so basically was fired by the president in person at the White House on Wednesday and then replaced by his deputy
13:32
A man who, and I am again not making this up, has previously articulated the viewpoint that parts of California are being taken over by witches
13:45
and he, I mean, yes, he has said that. It is on the record
13:50
He's made a whole host of other intemperate remarks on various issues
13:54
But he actually has argued that the Wicca community is taking over parts of California
14:01
Actual witches. Sort of hubble-bubble, toil-and-trouble territory. Yeah. He's also said... Members of the Wicca community
14:10
I think we should be careful because, I mean, In his telling, that's the way that he views members of the Wicked community
14:16
Oh, I see. Oh, no, an important clarification. I don't know if you can clarify this
14:20
He's also said that the military should be recruiting alpha males and alpha females
14:24
who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them, and ask for seconds. Yeah, but a bit of a dispute there between him and the Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth
14:33
because, of course, the Secretary of War isn't very interested in recruiting alpha females
14:37
He wants... No females. He's very into the maleness of the army
14:41
I need to tell you, I have a listener who I'm very fond of, called Robert, who's getting very, very cross with us both for saying Secretary of War, because he quite rightly points out that Trump has not got the authority to change department names
14:55
How many times do I have to remind you? So I just wanted, A, to let Robert know that I have registered and heard his anger and his fury, and to point out, Simon, that when you deploy that phrase, you're doing so in a slightly ironic fashion
15:09
Well, yes, I often say the self-styled Secretary of War. Robert is absolutely right
15:15
It is still the Department of Defence, even though there are various places in the building
15:20
where it says the Department of War, and he is still officially the Secretary of Defence
15:25
But at a time when the President calls him the Secretary of War and he calls himself the Secretary of War
15:31
I do think if we carried on calling him the Secretary of Defence
15:35
we would also be slightly misleading listeners. So it's a complicated one
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