Argentina’s soccer team caused outrage at the World Cup in July when, after knocking England out of the competition, players unveiled a banner declaring “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”—the Falkland Islands are Argentine. The challenge to Britain’s claim over the islands roughly 300 miles off the coast of Argentina caused a bit of a stir in London, but was mostly dismissed as a spot of sporting nationalism. That is, until this week, when Britain discovered that U.S.
President Donald Trump might agree with the Argentines. On Tuesday, Trump declared that the United States' position on the islands off the coast of Argentina was “under review." Then, when asked this morning whether America would support the United Kingdom if Argentina invaded again, he opened his personal grievance ledger. First, an ally annoys Trump.
Shortly after, some part of its geography suddenly becomes negotiable, mockable, or American. Last year, the Gulf of Mexico became the Gulf of America. Amid his trade confrontation with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump last week ordered the federal government to call Lake Ontario “Lake America.” Now his row with the U.K. over Iran has traveled 8,000 miles to the South Atlantic.
Trump has also extended the cartographic trolling to the Middle East. In August, he posted a map around the Strait of Hormuz labeled “NEW U.S. Territory” and this week floated the idea of renaming the strategic waterway “Trump Strait." Either he conveniently forgot or, more likely, simply disregarded Oman, a key U.S. security partner, host of American military bases and a lead mediator in the conflict.
Put simply, the president turns diplomatic disagreements with allies into personal provocations designed to bully them into submission. One day, he may discover that geography cuts both ways. Britain has administered the Falklands since 1833, except for Argentina’s 74-day occupation during the 1982 war.
Argentina has never abandoned its sovereignty claim, but the people actually living there have made their preference clear. In a 2013 referendum with 92 percent voter turnout, 1,513 people voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. Three people voted against.
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