Washington DC - Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently backtracked after a leaked memo revealed that President Donald Trump was planning to turn on the UK.
The day before King Charles III arrived in the US for his state visit, a leaked memo revealed the Trump administration was considering re-evaluating Britain's claim over the Falkland Islands, a territory in the South Atlantic over which the king serves as head of state.
The memo – which is believed to have been drafted by a junior staffer – suggested that the US could side with Argentina, a country that has a dim view of Britain's claim of the island.
It also detailed how British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper discussed the memo with Rubio during a meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
Critics saw the memo as part of a revenge plot against Britain for not supporting Trump's abrupt decision to go to war with Iran, but The Telegraph reports that Secretary Rubio has dismissed such rumors.
"It was just an email. People are getting overexcited by an email. It was just an email with some ideas," the secretary told the outlet ahead of the King's visit.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, a state department spokesperson further acknowledged that there are "conflicting claims of sovereignty" between Argentina and the UK, but claimed that the US "take[s] no position regarding sovereignty claims of either party."