Winston Churchill coined the phrase “special relationship” 80 years ago. Now, his grandson says Trump is damaging US-UK relations and warns diplomats could be in the works for a divorce.
Scott Ditrow, Host:
Eighty years ago today, United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill described his country’s strongest alliance.
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Winston Churchill: It means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States of America.
Detro: That special relationship flourished under Churchill and Roosevelt, Thatcher and Reagan, Blair and Bush. But it has come under pressure during the Trump administration, most recently over the Iran war. NPR’s Lauren Frayer reports from London.
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Prime Minister Keir Stormer: United States and Israel attack targets across Iran. President Trump…
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: When the war broke out, Prime Minister Keir Stormer, a former human rights lawyer, said the U.S. would not allow British military bases to be used for any offensive attacks on Iran. Stormer told Parliament…
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Starmer: This government does not believe in regime change from the sky and I am grateful…
Frayer: Vows not to follow US into another war as Tony Blair did 23 years ago.
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Starmer: We all remember the mistakes of Iraq…
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Hear, hear.
Stormer: …and we learned those lessons.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Hear, hear.
Frayer: After Iran retaliated against the Gulf, Stormer gave the US access to British bases, but only for limited defensive operations, and that was not enough for President Trump…
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President Donald Trump: UK is very uncooperative with…
FREYER: … who had an Oval Office blast accusing Stormer of hurting US-UK relations.
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TRUMP: This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.
Frayer: Trump probably never met a World War II-era leader, but this guy did.
Nicholas Soames: My name is Nicholas Soames, official title Lord Soames of Fletching. I am the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill.
Freire: He says his grandfather forged that special relationship.
Soames: His theory was that you should never break that bond with America.
FREYER: But he says even Churchill may have had trouble with Trump.
Soames: Churchill had to swallow hard to come to terms with President Trump.
FREYER: I asked him how the special relationship has changed under Trump.
Soames: Well, I think he changed everything. He throws all the pieces in the air and you can watch them fall to the ground one by one. I mean, I don’t think he has contempt for Europe.
Freire: Now, Stormer positions himself as a liaison between Europe and America. He has courted Trump and won a slightly more favorable trade deal. Trump visited the UK twice last year and said he really likes Starmer. So now to attack them…
Kim Darroch: Look, that hurt a lot. Dealing with the President of the United States is similar.
FREYER: Kim Darroch served as British ambassador to Washington in the first Trump administration, until leaked diplomatic cables revealed he described the White House as dysfunctional and incompetent. But Darroch thinks the special relationship will remain despite differences over this Iran war, NATO and a particular Arctic island.
Darroch: I think if we can get over these bumps on the road, on the bases and over Greenland and other things, that can be fixed. I really do.
Freire: They say it’s in both national interests. The US remains the UK’s security guarantor, at least for now, and its largest single-country trading partner. But Starmer told parliament it was not one-sided. This week, UK jets have been shooting down drones and missiles. UK spies sharing intelligence.
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Stormer: That’s the special relationship in action.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Hear, hear.
Starmer: Hanging on to President Trump’s latest words is not a special relationship.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Yes.
FREYER: Even before this Iran war, in Trump’s second term, as US officials talk about withdrawing security guarantees and imposing tariffs on allies, Churchill’s grandson Lord Soames says he realized something.
Soames: I think there is a growing gulf between us. I don’t think it’s quite the same.
FREYER: Stormer is moving, albeit slowly, to boost the UK’s own defenses and trade more with China and India, if this special relationship, strengthened in the 20th century, is weakened by the challenges of the 21st.
Lauren Frayer, NPR News, London.
(soundbite by Badbadnotgood and Ghostface Killa’s song, “Tone’s Rap”)
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