A former Pentagon official pushed back Sunday on reports that Washington might use the Falkland Islands as leverage against Britain, while at the same time arguing the U.S. is actively pressing the United Kingdom to meet its NATO defense spending obligations.
Morgan Murphy, a former press secretary in the War Department, told Fox News Digital that U.S. neutrality on Falklands sovereignty has not changed. But he said the Trump administration is likely to apply other forms of diplomatic pressure over London's military budget.
"You don't take the security and skip the bill. That is free-riding," Murphy said. He added: "Friends tell friends the check is due. Squeeze is accountability."
The dispute came after reports that U.K. Chancellor John Healey is expected to announce that the government will drop its target of spending 3% of gross domestic product on defense by 2030 when he delivers his first budget in October, according to the Financial Times. Under current projections, U.K. defense spending would reach 2.7% of GDP by 2030, with a new timeline set for reaching 3% on the path toward NATO's core spending target by 2035.
According to the 2025 Hague Summit Declaration, NATO allies agreed to spend 5% of GDP annually on defense. The pressure on Britain comes during a six-month Pentagon review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe, led by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby, according to Reuters. As Washington pushes European allies and Canada to take greater responsibility for NATO's conventional defense, the U.S. is expected to retain a supporting role that includes its nuclear deterrent, according to the Associated Press.
Murphy directly addressed reports from April of an internal Pentagon email suggesting the U.S. could review its position on Falklands sovereignty. "I have not seen that email. The Pentagon did not confirm it. The official word that followed was the same U.S. position we have now: neutral on sovereignty, recognize British administration," he said.
He also pushed back on the idea that Washington has any real leverage to withdraw on the Falklands question. "We can't 'withdraw support' for sovereignty of the Falklands that was never there," Murphy said. "Policy experts know the difference between an unsourced whisper to a British paper that 'nothing is being ruled out' and an official word from the White House."
Murphy noted that Falkland Islanders voted 99.8% to remain a British overseas territory in a 2013 referendum. He said he could not speak for the current administration but maintained the U.S. position on the islands is unchanged. He said Washington would pursue other diplomatic options to hold Britain accountable on defense without altering the status quo on the Falklands.
Healey's budget announcement is expected in October, which will likely bring the dispute over British defense spending back into focus.
