As the world watches the ever-more erratic and aggressive presidency of Donald Trump, a stark realisation is dawning on Britain: the greatest threat to its security may soon come not from Russia, but from its closest ally across the Atlantic.
For decades, the “special relationship” between the UK and the US has been central to Westminster’s political thinking, with deep cultural, economic and social ties binding the two nations together. However, Trump’s increasingly hostile approach to relatively liberal Europe, including Britain, is shattering these old assumptions.
The recent Greenland crisis is just the latest, starkest example of this administration’s antipathy towards the UK and its European allies. Disputes over free speech, tariffs, the climate crisis, multiculturalism, military spending, international law and more have strained the transatlantic alliance to breaking point.
As Bronwen Maddox, the director of the respected Chatham House think tank, has warned, Western countries “must now contemplate what was unthinkable: to defend themselves against the US, in both trade and security.” She went on to say that “it is not grandiose to call this the end of the western alliance.”
Yet, for an establishment invested in the status quo, accepting the collapse or decay of this relationship may be much harder. The Anglo-American “special relationship” has been central to Westminster and Whitehall’s political activities for over 80 years, with deep institutional ties spanning intelligence sharing, military cooperation and more.
The last time this relationship was widely questioned in Britain was during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, over 40 years ago. But then, Reagan became more conciliatory towards Russia, the Cold War ended, and the US-UK relationship went back to being largely unquestioned.
Now, however, with the rise of anti-European figures like Vice President JD Vance, who believe the US should achieve even greater “dominance” of the West, this nationalist monster may not sink from view again for a long time.
Despite some tough words from Keir Starmer’s government about Greenland, its broader approach to Trump still seems wedded to the British orthodoxy that there is little to be gained, and much to be lost, from fundamentally breaking with the US. Yet, as Maddox has warned, the time has come for some new thinking.
The British state can continue to believe that its American relationship is essentially unchanged, or can be adjusted or extended in a diminished form for a few more years. Or it can recognise the stark reality: that the greatest threat facing Britain may soon be the very country it has relied upon for decades.
