FORMER US President Barack Obama laughed at the notion of America’s “special relationship” with Britain and would slip Falklands references into press conferences to mock the UK, according to one of his ex-aides Jeremy Shapiro.
Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, Shapiro said the special relationship is far more important to Britain than to the US. He said it is “unrequited” and cruelly mocked when the cameras were turned off.
He also said “But really we laughed about it behind the scenes. Typically, I would try and slip in a reference to the Malvinas or something to spoil it.”
‘Malvinas’ is the word used by Argies to refer to the Falklands, when they are trying to claim the islands belong to Argentina.
The claims back up the view that Britain’s special relationship with the US waned during the Obama years.
The former president controversially removed a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, which was put back by Trump.
May, the first world leader to visit Trump in January, said Britain and the US should “lead together again” in the world.