Updated by Faith Barbara N Ruhinda at 1444 EAT on Friday 24 April 2026

Reuters reported, citing a US official, that an internal Pentagon email outlined potential measures aimed at punishing allies Washington believed had not supported its campaign.

The email reportedly also suggested revisiting the United States’ stance on the United Kingdom’s sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands, a disputed territory also claimed by Argentina.

A NATO official told the BBC that the alliance’s founding treaty “does not foresee any provision for suspension of NATO membership, or expulsion.”
Spain’s leader has also rejected the report. The BBC said it had reached out to both the Pentagon and the UK government for comment.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised NATO members over what he describes as insufficient burden-sharing, particularly following US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Iran subsequently restricted traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz shipping route.

Spain has refused to allow the use of its air bases for attacks on Iran, despite hosting key US military installations on its territory.

The United States operates two bases in Spain — Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told reporters: “We do not work based on emails. We work with official documents and official positions taken, in this case, by the government of the United States.”
He added that Spain supported “full cooperation with its allies, but always within the framework of international law.”

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that deeper involvement in the conflict, or in the current US blockade of Iranian ports, is not in the United Kingdom’s interest.

The UK has allowed US forces to use British bases for strikes on Iranian targets linked to the Strait of Hormuz, while Royal Air Force aircraft have also participated in operations to intercept Iranian drones.

An internal Pentagon email described access, basing and overflight rights (ABO) as “just the absolute baseline for NATO,” according to an unnamed US official quoted by Reuters.

As a possible response to what it characterised as insufficient allied cooperation, the email reportedly suggested reassessing US diplomatic support for longstanding European “imperial possessions,” including the Falkland Islands, the official said.

The Falklands — known in Argentina as the Malvinas — are located about 8,000 miles from the United Kingdom and roughly 300 miles from the Argentine mainland.

Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the islands, which remain a British overseas territory in the south-west Atlantic. The dispute led to a brief war in 1982, after Argentine forces invaded the islands and Britain launched a military response to retake control.

Another option outlined in the internal email reportedly proposed suspending “difficult” countries from key positions within the alliance, according to the unnamed US official quoted by Reuters.

The official said the memo did not suggest that the United States would withdraw from the alliance, nor did it propose closing US bases in Europe.

Responding to the Reuters report, Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson said that despite “everything” the United States has done for its NATO allies, “they were not there for us.”

She added: “The War Department will ensure that the president has credible options to ensure that our allies are no longer a paper tiger and instead do their part.”

-BBC

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