dances with Queen Elizabeth II during her
1976 State Visit to the United States Prior to their collaboration during World War II, Anglo–American relations had been more stand-offish. President
Woodrow Wilson and Prime Minister
David Lloyd George in
Paris had been the first leaders of the two nations to meet face-to-face, but had enjoyed nothing that could be described as a "special relationship", although Lloyd George's wartime
Foreign Secretary,
Arthur Balfour, got on well with Wilson during his time in the US and helped convince the previously skeptical president to enter World War I. Britain, previously somewhat the predominant partner out of the two countries, had found itself in a more of a secondary role beginning in 1941. The personal relations between British prime ministers and U.S. presidents have often affected the Special Relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. The first example was the close relationship between Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt, who were in fact distantly related. Churchill spent much time and effort cultivating the relationship, which had a positive impact on the war effort. Two great architects of the Special Relationship on a practical level were Field Marshal Sir
John Dill and General
George Marshall, whose excellent personal relations and senior positions (Roosevelt was especially close to Marshall) helped to strengthen the alliance. Major links were created during the war, such as the Combined Chiefs of Staff. The diplomatic policy behind the Special Relationship was two-pronged, encompassing strong personal support between heads of state and equally forthright military and political aid. The most cordial personal relationships between British prime ministers and American presidents have always been those based around shared goals. Peaks in the Special Relationship include the bonds between
Harold Macmillan (who like Churchill had an American mother) and
John F. Kennedy; between
James Callaghan and
Jimmy Carter, who were close personal friends despite their differences in personality; between
Margaret Thatcher and
Ronald Reagan; and more recently between
Tony Blair and both
Bill Clinton and
George W. Bush. Low points in the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. have occurred due to disagreements over foreign policy, such as
Dwight D. Eisenhower's opposition to U.K. operations in
Suez under
Anthony Eden and Harold Wilson's refusal to enter the war in
Vietnam.
Timeline Churchill and Roosevelt (May 1940 – April 1945) in 1941 When Winston Churchill entered the office of prime minister, the UK had already entered
World War II. Immediately at the start of Churchill's premiership, the
Battle of Dunkirk took place. Before Churchill's premiership, President Roosevelt had secretively been in frequent correspondence with him. Their correspondence had begun in September 1939, at the very start of World War II. In these private communications, the two had been discussing ways in which the US might support Britain in their war effort. However, at the time when Winston Churchill assumed the office of prime minister, Roosevelt was nearing the end of his second term and making considerations of seeking election to an unprecedented third term The US ultimately joined the war effort in December 1941, under Roosevelt's leadership. Roosevelt and Churchill had a relative fondness of one another. They connected on their shared passions for
tobacco and
liquors, and their mutual interest in history and
battleships. Replying to Churchill's birthday greeting in January, 1942, Roosevelt, now also in his 60s, wrote him, "It is fun to be in the same decade as you."
Churchill and Truman (April 1945 – July 1945) ). Roosevelt died in April 1945, shortly into his fourth term in office, and was succeeded by his
vice president,
Harry Truman. Churchill and Truman likewise developed a strong relationship with one another. While he was saddened by the death of Roosevelt, Churchill was a strong supporter of Truman in his early presidency, calling him, "the type of leader the world needs when it needs him most." At the
Potsdam Conference, Truman and Churchill, along with
Joseph Stalin, made agreements for settling the boundaries of Europe.
Attlee and Truman (July 1945 – October 1951) Four months into Truman's presidency, Churchill's party was handed a surprise defeat at the polls, and
Clement Attlee became prime minister. The deputy in Churchill's wartime coalition government, Attlee had been in the US at the time of Roosevelt's death, and thus had met with Truman immediately after he took office. The two of them had come to like one another. Attlee flew to Washington in December 1950 to support Truman in standing up against
Douglas MacArthur. In his time as prime minister, Attlee also managed to convince Truman to agree to greater nuclear cooperation. In 1947, Churchill had written Truman an unheeded memo recommending that the US make a pre-emptive
atomic bomb strike on Moscow before the
Soviet Union could acquire nuclear weapons themselves. Churchill and Eden visited Washington in January 1952. At the time, Truman's administration was supporting plans for a
European Defence Community in hopes that it would allow
West Germany to undergo rearmament, consequentially enabling the U.S. to decrease the number of American troops stationed in Germany. Churchill opposed the EDC, feeling that it could not work. He also asked, unsuccessfully, for the US to commit its forces to supporting Britain in Egypt and the Middle East. This had no appeal for Truman. Truman expected the British to assist the Americans in their fight against communist forces in
Korea, but felt that supporting the British in the Middle East would be assisting them in their efforts to prevent decolonization, which would do nothing to thwart communism. Relations were strained during Eisenhower's presidency by Eisenhower's outrage over Churchill's half-baked attempt to set up a "parley at the summit" with Joseph Stalin.
Macmillan and Eisenhower (January 1957 – January 1961) , aiming to repair Anglo-American relationships in the aftermath of the previous year's
Suez Crisis. Once he took office,
Harold Macmillan worked to undo the strain that the Special Relationship had incurred in the preceding years. He endeavoured to broaden the Special Relationship beyond Churchill's conception of an English-Speaking Union into a more inclusive "Atlantic Community". His key theme, "of the
interdependence of the nations of the
Free World and the partnership which must be maintained between Europe and the United States", was one that Kennedy subsequently took up. However, Eisenhower increased tension with the UK by
sabotaging Macmillan's policy of
détente with the Soviet Union at the May 1960 Paris summit.
Macmillan and Kennedy (January 1961 – October 1963) Kennedy was an
anglophile. His
father had previously served as the US ambassador to the UK and his
sister had been Marchioness of Hartington, whose
husband was incidentally the nephew of Macmillan's
wife. The debates over Skybolt were top secret, but tensions were exacerbated when
Dean Acheson, a former Secretary of State, challenged publicly the Special Relationship and marginalised the British contribution to the
Western alliance. Acheson said: missile at the
Imperial War Museum in London On learning of Acheson's attack, Macmillan thundered in public: The looming collapse of the alliance between the two thermonuclear powers forced Kennedy into an about-face at the Anglo-American summit in
Nassau, where he
agreed to sell
Polaris as a replacement for the cancelled Skybolt.
Richard E. Neustadt in his official investigation concluded the crisis in the Special Relationship had erupted because "the president's 'Chiefs' failed to make a proper strategic assessment of Great Britain's intentions and its capabilities". The Skybolt crisis with Kennedy came on top of Eisenhower's wrecking of Macmillan's policy of détente with the Soviet Union at the May 1960 Paris summit, and the prime minister's resulting disenchantment with the Special Relationship contributed to his decision to seek an alternative in British membership of the
European Economic Community (EEC). Even so, Kennedy assured Macmillan "that relations between the United States and the UK would be strengthened not weakened, if the UK moved towards membership."
Douglas-Home and Kennedy (October 1963 – November 1963) Alec Douglas-Home only entered the race to replace the resigning Macmillan as Leader of the
Conservative Party after learning from the
British ambassador to the US that the Kennedy administration was uneasy at the prospect of
Quintin Hogg being prime minister. Douglas-Home, however, would only serve as prime minister for a little over a month before Kennedy
was assassinated. In England, Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 caused a profound shock and sadness expressed by many politicians, religious leaders, and luminaries of literature and the arts. The Archbishop of Canterbury led a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral. Sir
Laurence Olivier at the end of his next performance called for a moment of silence, followed by a playing of "The Star Spangled Banner". Prime Minister Douglas-Home led parliamentary tributes to Kennedy, whom he called, "the most loyal and faithful of allies." Douglas-Home was visibly upset during his remarks, as he was truly saddened by Kennedy's death. He had liked Kennedy, and had begun to establish a positive working relationship with him. After his assassination, the British government sought approval to build a memorial to President Kennedy, in part to demonstrate the strength of the Special Relationship. However, the weak popular response to its ambitious fundraising campaign was a surprise, and suggested a grassroots opposition to the late president, his policies, and the United States. Relations between the two nations worsened after
British Leyland busses were sold to
Cuba, thus undermining the effectiveness of the
United States embargo against Cuba. but neither he nor President Lyndon B. Johnson had any direct experience of foreign policy. Johnson sent Secretary of State
Dean Rusk as head of the American delegation to the
state funeral of Winston Churchill in January 1965, rather than the new vice president
Hubert Humphrey. Johnson himself had been hospitalized with influenza and advised by his doctors against attending the funeral. This perceived slight generated much criticism against the president, both in the U.K. and in the U.S. And Wilson's attempt to mediate in
Vietnam, where the United Kingdom was co-chairman with the Soviet Union of the
Geneva Conference, was unwelcome to the president. "I won't tell you how to run
Malaysia and you don't tell us how to run Vietnam", Johnson snapped in 1965. U.S. Defense Secretary
Robert McNamara asked Britain to send troops to Vietnam as "the unwritten terms of the Special Relationship", Wilson agreed to help in many ways but refused to commit regular forces, only
special forces instructors. There was much speculation that Wilson's refusals were partially due to the Americans not supporting Britain during the Suez Crisis.
Australia and
New Zealand did commit regular forces to Vietnam. The Johnson administration's support for
IMF loans delayed devaluation of
sterling until 1967. In retrospect Wilson's moves to scale back Britain's global commitments and correct its balance of payments contrasted with Johnson's overexertions which accelerated the relative economic and military decline of the US. In a speech delivered on 27 January 1970 at a state dinner welcoming the Prime Minister in his visit to the US Nixon said,
Heath and Nixon (June 1970 – March 1974) and Queen
Elizabeth II with President Richard M. Nixon and First Lady
Pat Nixon during the Nixons' 1970 visit to the United Kingdom A
Europeanist, Prime Minister
Edward Heath preferred to speak of a natural relationship', based on shared culture and heritage", and stressed that the Special Relationship was "not part of his own vocabulary". The Heath–Nixon era was dominated by the United Kingdom's 1973 entry into the
European Economic Community (EEC). Although the two leaders' 1971
Bermuda communiqué restated that entry served the interests of the
Atlantic Alliance, American observers voiced concern that the British government's membership would impair its role as an honest broker, and that, because of the European goal of political union, the Special Relationship would only survive if it included the whole Community. Critics accused President Nixon of impeding the EEC's inclusion in the Special Relationship by his economic policy, which dismantled the
postwar international monetary system and sought to force open European markets for US exports. Detractors also slated the personal relationship at the top as "decidedly less than special"; Prime Minister Edward Heath, it was alleged, "hardly dared put through a phone call to Richard Nixon for fear of offending his new Common Market partners." The Special Relationship was "soured" during the
Arab–Israeli War of 1973 when Nixon failed to inform Heath that US forces had been put on
DEFCON 3 in a worldwide standoff with the
Soviet Union, and US Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger misled the
British ambassador over the nuclear alert. Heath, who learned about the alert only from press reports hours later, confessed: "I have found considerable alarm as to what use the Americans would have been able to make of their forces here without in any way consulting us or considering the British interests." The incident marked "a low ebb" in the Special Relationship. Heath refused the US permission to use any of the UK's air bases to resupply during the
Yom Kippur War, or to allow the Americans to gather intelligence from
British bases in Cyprus.
Wilson and Nixon (March 1974 – August 1974) (left), President
Richard Nixon (centre) and
Henry Kissinger (right) in June 1974 Wilson and Nixon once again concurrently served as leaders of the two nations for a six-month period spanning from the start of Wilson's
second tenure as Prime Minister until
Nixon's resignation. Wilson held Nixon in high regard. After he left office himself, Wilson praised Nixon as America's "most able" president.
Wilson and Ford (August 1974 – April 1976) in January 1975
Gerald Ford became president after Nixon's resignation. In a toast to Wilson at a January 1975 state dinner, Ford remarked,
Callaghan and Ford (April 1976 – January 1977) In April 1976,
James Callaghan became prime minister after Wilson
resigned the office. Ford and Callaghan were regarded as having a close relationship. The British government saw the
U.S. bicentennial in 1976 as an occasion to celebrate the Special Relationship. Political leaders and guests from both sides of the
Atlantic gathered in May at
Westminster Hall to mark the American
Declaration of Independence of 1776. Prime Minister James Callaghan presented a visiting Congressional delegation with a gold-embossed reproduction of
Magna Carta, symbolising the common heritage of the two nations. British historian
Esmond Wright noted "a vast amount of popular identification with the American story". A year of cultural exchanges and exhibitions culminated in July in
a state visit to the United States by the Queen. Ford lost the
1976 election. Consequentially, his presidency ended in January 1977. President Ford had never managed to visit the United Kingdom during his presidency.
Callaghan and Carter (January 1977 – May 1979) (left) and Prime Minister
James Callaghan (right) in the
Oval Office in March 1978 After defeating the incumbent Gerald Ford in the 1976 election,
Jimmy Carter was sworn in as President of the United States in January 1977. Ties between Callaghan and Carter were cordial but, with both left of centre governments being preoccupied with economic malaise, diplomatic contacts remained low key. US officials characterised relations in 1978 as "extremely good", with the main disagreement being over trans-Atlantic air routes. During Callaghan's March 1977 visit to the White House, Carter affirmed that there was both a, "special relationship" and an "unbreakable friendship" between the two nations, declaring that, "Great Britain is still America's mother country." During this meeting, Callaghan praised Carter for enhancing, "the political tone of the world". The economic malaise that Callaghan was facing at home developed into the "
Winter of Discontent", which ultimately led to Callaghan's Labour Party losing
the May 1979 general election, thus ending his tenure as prime minister.
Thatcher and Carter (May 1979 – January 1981) hosting a state dinner for Margaret Thatcher at the White House during her 1979 visit to the United States Conservative Party leader
Margaret Thatcher became prime minister after her party won the
1979 United Kingdom general election. Relations between President Carter and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the year-and-a-half overlap of their leadership have often been seen as relatively cool, especially when contrasted with the kinship that Thatcher would subsequently develop with Carter's successor
Ronald Reagan. However, Carter's relationship with Thatcher never reached the levels of strain that Reagan's relationship would in the midst of the
Falklands War. Thatcher and Carter had clear differences in their political ideology. They both occupied relatively opposing ends of the political spectrum. Both Carter and Thatcher condemned the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan. Thatcher was concerned that Carter was naive about Soviet relations. In their correspondences, Thatcher expressed sympathy to Carter's troubled efforts to resolve the hostage crisis in Iran. Thatcher summed up her understanding of the Special Relationship at her first meeting with Reagan as president in 1981: "Your problems will be our problems and when you look for friends we shall be there." Celebrating the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 1985, Thatcher enthused: Reagan, in turn, acknowledged: In 1982, Thatcher and Reagan reached an agreement to replace the British
Polaris fleet with a force equipped with US-supplied
Trident missiles. The confidence between the two principals appeared momentarily strained by Reagan's belated support in the
Falklands War, but this was more than countered by the Anglophile American Defense Secretary,
Caspar Weinberger, who provided strong support in intelligence and munitions. It has since been revealed that while publicly claiming neutrality in the dispute between
Argentina and Britain over the
Falkland Islands, Reagan had approved a top-secret plan to loan a U.S.
aircraft carrier to the British in the event that Argentine forces managed to sink one of the British carriers, and had told Weinberger to: "Give Maggie everything she needs to get on with it." A July 2012 article by USNI News of the
United States Naval Institute revealed that the
Reagan Administration offered the use of the
USS Iwo Jima as a replacement in case either of the two British carriers, and , had been damaged or destroyed during the 1982 Falklands War. This top-secret contingency plan was revealed to the staff of the Naval Institute by
John Lehman, the
U.S. Secretary of the Navy at the time of the Falklands War, from a speech provided to the Naval Institute that Lehman made in
Portsmouth, UK on 26 June 2012. Lehman stated that the loan of
Iwo Jima was made in response to a request from the
Royal Navy, and it had the endorsement of
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and
U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger. The actual planning for the loan of
Iwo Jima was done by the staff of the
U.S. Second Fleet under the direction of
Vice Admiral James Lyons, who confirmed Lehman's revelations with the Naval Institute staff. Contingency planning envisioned American
military contractors, likely retired sailors with knowledge of
Iwo Jimas systems, assisting the British in manning the U.S. helicopter carrier during the loan-out. Naval analyst
Eric Wertheim compared this arrangement to the
Flying Tigers. Significantly, except for
U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig, the
U.S. Department of State was not included in the loan-out negotiations. to conduct an airstrike in Libya on 15 April 1986.
In 1986 Washington asked permission to use British airbases in order to bomb Libya in retaliation for the
1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing by Libyan terrorists that killed two U.S. servicemen. The British cabinet was opposed and Thatcher herself was worried it would lead to widespread attacks on British interests in the Middle East. That did not happen, and instead Libyan terrorism fell off sharply. Furthermore, although British public opinion was highly negative, Britain won widespread praise in the United States at a time when Spain and France had vetoed American requests to fly over their territories. A more serious disagreement came in 1983 when Washington did not consult with London on the
invasion of Grenada. Grenada is part of the
Commonwealth of Nations and, following the invasion, it requested help from other Commonwealth members. The intervention was opposed by Commonwealth members including the
United Kingdom,
Trinidad and Tobago, and
Canada, among others. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a close ally of Reagan on other matters, personally opposed the U.S. invasion. Reagan told her it might happen; she did not know for sure it was coming until three hours before. At 12:30 on the morning of the invasion, Thatcher sent a message to Reagan: Reagan told Thatcher before anyone else that the invasion would begin in a few hours, but ignored her complaints. She publicly supported the U.S. action. Reagan phoned to apologize for the miscommunication, and the long-term friendly relationship endured. In 1986, the British defence secretary
Michael Heseltine, a prominent critic of the Special Relationship and a supporter of
European integration,
resigned over his concern that a takeover of Britain's
last helicopter manufacturer by a
US firm would harm the British defence industry. Thatcher herself also saw a potential risk to Britain's
deterrent and security posed by the
Strategic Defense Initiative She was alarmed at Reagan's proposal at the
Reykjavík Summit to eliminate nuclear weapons, but was relieved when the proposal failed. All in all, Britain's needs figured more prominently in American thinking strategy than anyone else.
Peter Hennessy, a leading historian, singles out the personal dynamic of "Ron" and "Margaret" in this success:
Thatcher and George H. W. Bush (January 1989 – November 1990) George H. W. Bush in
Washington, D.C., in July 1987In his personal diary,
George H. W. Bush wrote that his first impression of Thatcher was she was principled but very difficult. Bush also wrote that Thatcher, "talks all the time when you're in a conversation. It's a one-way street." Despite having developed a warm relation with Reagan, whom Bush had served under as vice president, Thatcher never developed a similar sense of camaraderie with Bush. At the time that Bush took office in January 1989, having won the
previous November's presidential election, Thatcher was politically under siege from both her political opposition and forces within her own party. Bush was anxious to manage the collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe in a manner that would produce order and stability. Bush, therefore, used a 1989 trip to Brussels to demonstrate the heightened attention that his administration planned to allocate towards
US–German relations. Thus, rather than giving Thatcher the precedence which Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom were accustomed to receiving from US Presidents, he met with the president of the European Commission first, leaving Thatcher, "cooling her heels". This irritated Thatcher. Thatcher
lost her premiership in November 1990. However, to Bush's displeasure, she continued attempting to involve herself in diplomacy between the West and the Soviet Union. Bush took particular offence to a speech Thatcher gave after leaving office in which she said that she and Ronald Reagan were responsible for ending the Cold War. Thatcher gave this speech, which snubbed the contributions that others had made, before an audience that included a number of individuals who had contributed to the ending the Cold War, such as
Lech Wałęsa and
Václav Havel. In reaction to this speech,
Helmut Kohl sent Bush a note proclaiming that Thatcher was crazy.
Major and Clinton (January 1993 – May 1997) (left) and Prime Minister
John Major (right) hold a working breakfast at the White House in March 1994. Democratic President Bill Clinton intended to maintain the Special Relationship. But he and Major did not prove compatible. The nuclear alliance was weakened when Clinton extended a moratorium on
tests in the
Nevada desert in 1993, and pressed Major to agree to the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The freeze was described by a British
defence minister as "unfortunate and misguided", as it inhibited validation of the "safety, reliability and effectiveness" of fail-safe mechanisms on upgraded warheads for the
British Trident II D5 missiles, and potentially the development of a new deterrent for the 21st century, leading Major to consider a return to Pacific Ocean testing. The Ministry of Defence turned to computer simulation. A genuine crisis in transatlantic relations blew up over
Bosnia. London and Paris resisted relaxation of the UN
arms embargo, and discouraged U.S.
escalation, arguing that arming the
Muslims or bombing the
Serbs could worsen the bloodshed and endanger their
peacekeepers on the ground. US Secretary of State
Warren Christopher's campaign to lift the embargo was rebuffed by Major and President
Mitterrand in May 1993. By October 1993, Warren Christopher was bristling that Washington policy makers had been too "
Eurocentric", and declared that Western Europe was "no longer the
dominant area of the world". By the summer, U.S. officials were doubting whether NATO had a future. Adams was listed as a terrorist by
London. The U.S. State Department, the CIA, the
U.S. Justice Department and the
FBI all opposed the move on the grounds that it made the United States look "soft on terrorism" and "could do irreparable damage to the special relationship". Under pressure from
Congress, the president hoped the visit would encourage the
IRA to renounce violence. While Adams offered nothing new, and violence escalated within weeks, the president later claimed vindication after the IRA ceasefire of August 1994. To the disappointment of the prime minister, Clinton lifted the ban on official contacts and received Adams at the
White House on
St. Patrick's Day 1995, despite the fact the paramilitaries had not agreed to disarm.
Blair and Clinton (May 1997 – January 2001) (left) and President
Bill Clinton (right) in Belfast in September 1998 The election of
British prime minister Tony Blair in
1997 brought an opportunity to revive what Clinton called the two nations' "unique partnership". At his first meeting with his new partner, the president said: "Over the last fifty years our unbreakable alliance has helped to bring unparalleled peace and prosperity and security. It's an alliance based on shared values and common aspirations." The personal relationship between the two leaders was seen as especially close because the leaders were considered to be "kindred spirits" in their domestic agendas. Both Blair and Clinton were, each, the first of their generation (
baby boomers) to lead their respective nation. Enforcement of
Iraqi no-fly zones and US bombing raids on
Iraq dismayed EU partners. As the leading international proponent of
humanitarian intervention, the "hawkish" Blair "bullied" Clinton to back diplomacy with force in
Kosovo in 1999, pushing for deployment of
ground troops to persuade the president "to do whatever was necessary" to win. Clinton played a key role in the
peace talks that led to the
Good Friday Agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and
Ireland in 1998. The partnership between Blair and Clinton would later be the focus of the 2010 film
The Special Relationship.
Blair and George W. Bush (January 2001 – June 2007) (left) and President
George W. Bush (right) in the
East Room of the
White House in November 2004, after a press conference The personal diplomacy of Blair and Clinton's successor,
US president George W. Bush in
2001, further served to highlight the Special Relationship. Despite their political differences on non-strategic matters, their shared beliefs and responses to the international situation formed a commonality of purpose following the
September 11 attacks in New York and
Washington, D.C. Blair, like Bush, was convinced of the importance of moving against the perceived threat to world peace and international order, famously pledging to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with Bush: Blair flew to Washington immediately after 9/11 to affirm British solidarity with the United States. In a speech to the
United States Congress, nine days after the attacks, Bush declared "America has no truer friend than Great Britain." Blair, one of the few world leaders to attend a presidential speech to Congress as a
special guest of the First Lady, received two standing ovations from members of Congress. Blair's presence at the presidential speech remains the only time in U.S. political history that a foreign leader was in attendance at an emergency joint session of the U.S. Congress, a testimony to the strength of the U.S.–U.K. alliance under the two leaders. Following that speech, Blair embarked on two months of diplomacy, rallying international support for military action. The
BBC calculated that, in total, the prime minister held 54 meetings with world leaders and travelled more than . Blair came to be considered Bush's strongest foreign ally in regards to the
Iraq War. It also alienated some of his European partners, including the leaders of France and Germany. Russian popular artist
Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov mused that "the position adopted by Britain towards America in the context of the Iraq War would be officially introduced into
Kama Sutra." Blair felt he could defend his close personal relationship with Bush by claiming it had brought progress in the
Middle East peace process, aid for Africa and
climate-change diplomacy. However, it was not with Bush but with
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger that Blair ultimately succeeded in setting up a
carbon-trading market, "creating a model other states will follow". The
2006 Lebanon War also exposed some minor differences in attitudes over the Middle East. The strong support offered by Blair and the Bush administration to
Israel was not wholeheartedly shared by the British cabinet or the British public. On 27 July, Foreign Secretary
Margaret Beckett criticised the United States for "ignoring procedure" when using
Prestwick Airport as a stop-off point for delivering
laser-guided bombs to Israel.
Brown and George W. Bush (June 2007 – January 2009) (left) and President
George W. Bush (right) at
Camp David in July 2007 Although British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown stated his support for the United States on assuming office in
2007, he appointed ministers to the
Foreign Office who had been critical of aspects of the relationship or of recent US policy. A
Whitehall source said: "It will be more businesslike now, with less emphasis on the meeting of personal visions you had with Bush and Blair." British policy was that the relationship with the United States remained the United Kingdom's "most important bilateral relationship".
Brown and Obama (January 2009 – May 2010) (left) and President
Barack Obama (right) in the
Oval Office in March 2009 Prior to his
election as US president in 2008,
Barack Obama, suggesting that Blair and Britain had been let down by the Bush administration, declared: "We have a chance to recalibrate the relationship and for the United Kingdom to work with America as a full partner." On meeting Brown as president for the first time in March 2009, Obama reaffirmed that "Great Britain is one of our closest and strongest allies and there is a link and bond there that will not break... This notion that somehow there is any lessening of that special relationship is misguided... The relationship is not only special and strong but will only get stronger as time goes on." Commentators, however, noted that the recurring use of "special partnership" by
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs could be signaling an effort to recast terms. The Special Relationship was also reported to be "strained" after a senior
U.S. State Department official criticised a British decision to talk to the political wing of
Hezbollah, complaining that the United States had not been properly informed. The protest came after the
Obama administration had said it was prepared to talk to
Hamas and at the same time as it was making overtures to
Syria and Iran. A senior Foreign Office official responded: "This should not have come as a shock to any official who might have been in the previous administration and is now in the current one." In June 2009 the special relationship was reported to have "taken another hit" after the British government was said to be "angry" over the failure of the US to seek its approval before negotiating with
Bermuda over the resettlement to the
British overseas territory of four ex-
Guantanamo Bay inmates wanted by the People's Republic of China. A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'It's something that we should have been consulted about.' Asked whether the men might be sent back to
Cuba, he replied: "We are looking into all possible next steps." Shadow Foreign Secretary
William Hague demanded an explanation from the incumbent,
David Miliband, with one commentator describing the affair as "a wake-up call" and "the latest example of American governments ignoring Britain when it comes to US interests in British territories abroad". In August 2009, the Special Relationship was again reported to have "taken another blow" with the release on compassionate grounds of
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the 1988
Lockerbie Bombing. U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton said "it was absolutely wrong to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi", adding "We are still encouraging the Scottish authorities not to do so and hope they will not". Obama also commented that the release of al-Megrahi was a "mistake" and "highly objectionable". In March 2010, Hillary Clinton's support for
Argentina's call for negotiations over the Falkland Islands triggered a series of diplomatic protests from Britain and renewed public scepticism about the value of the Special Relationship. The British government rejected Clinton's offer of mediation after renewed tensions with Argentina were triggered by a British decision to drill for oil near the
Falkland Islands. The British government's long-standing position was that the Falklands were British territory, with all that this implied regarding the legitimacy of British commercial activities within its boundaries. British officials were therefore irritated by the implication that sovereignty was negotiable. Later that month, the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the
House of Commons suggested that the British government should be "less deferential" towards the United States and focus relations more on British interests. In April 2010, the
Church of England added its voice to the call for a more balanced relationship between Britain and the United States.
Cameron and Obama (May 2010 – July 2016) (left) and President
Barack Obama (right) at the G20 Summit in
Toronto,
Canada, June 2010. On
David Cameron's being appointed as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after
coalition talks between his Conservatives and the
Liberal Democrats concluded on 11 May 2010, President Obama was the first foreign leader to offer his congratulations. Following the conversation Obama said: Foreign Secretary
William Hague responded to the President's overture by making Washington his first port of call, commenting: "We're very happy to accept that description and to agree with that description. The United States is without doubt the most important ally of the United Kingdom." Meeting Hillary Clinton, Hague hailed the Special Relationship as "an unbreakable alliance", and added: "It's not a backward-looking or nostalgic relationship. It is one looking to the future from combating
violent extremism to addressing poverty and conflict around the world." Both governments confirmed their joint commitment to the war in Afghanistan and their opposition to
Iran's nuclear programme. The
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 sparked a media firestorm against
BP in the United States.
The Christian Science Monitor observed that a "rhetorical prickliness" had come about from escalating
Obama administration criticism of BP—straining the Special Relationship—particularly the repeated use of the term "British Petroleum" even though the business no longer uses that name. Cameron stated that he did not want to make the president's toughness on BP a U.S.–U.K. issue, and noted that the company was balanced in terms of the number of its American and British shareholders. The validity of the Special Relationship was put in question as a result of the "aggressive rhetoric". On 20 July, Cameron met with Obama during his first visit to the United States as prime minister. The two expressed unity in a wide range of issues, including the
war in Afghanistan. During the meeting, Obama stated, "We can never say it enough. The United States and the United Kingdom enjoy a truly special relationship," then going on to say, "We celebrate a common heritage. We cherish common values. ... (And) above all, our alliance thrives because it advances our common interests." Cameron said, "from the times I've met Barack Obama before, we do have very, very close – allegiances and very close positions on all the key issues, whether that is Afghanistan or Middle East peace process or Iran. Our interests are aligned and we've got to make this partnership work." (
George W. Bush was invited to address Parliament in 2003, but declined.) He was the first US President to give a rare
Westminster Hall address, in which he stressed themes of shared heritage and values, as well as multilateralism. In 2013, ahead of a UK Parliament vote against participating in
U.S. military action in Syria, Secretary of State
John Kerry remarked "The relationship between the US and UK has often been described as special or essential and it has been described thus simply because it is." Foreign Secretary
William Hague replied: "So the United Kingdom will continue to work closely with the United States, taking a highly active role in addressing the
Syria crisis and working with our closest ally over the coming weeks and months." In July 2015, after negotiations, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with China, France, the European Union, Germany,
Russia agreed to the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. In 2015, Cameron stated that Obama calls him "
bro" and described the "special relationship" between Washington and Westminster as "stronger than it has ever been". In March 2016, Obama criticised the British PM for becoming "distracted" over the intervention in Libya, a criticism that was also aimed at the French President. A National Security Council spokesman sent an unsolicited email to the BBC limiting the damage done by stating that "Prime Minister David Cameron has been as close a partner as the president has had."
May and Obama (July 2016 – January 2017) (left) and President
Barack Obama (right) deliver a joint press statement at the G20 Summit in
Hangzhou,
China, September 2016. The short period of relations between post-
Brexit referendum newly appointed Theresa May and Obama administration was met with diplomatic tension over
John Kerry's criticism of Israel in a speech. Obama maintained his stance that the UK would be a low priority for US trade talks post-Brexit, and that the UK would be at "the back of the queue". May chose
Boris Johnson to serve as her Foreign Secretary. Johnson had written an op-ed which made mention of Obama's
Kenyan heritage in a manner which critics accused of being racist. He had also previously written an op-ed about Hillary Clinton which made derisive statements that had been criticized as sexist. By the time May appointed Johnson, Clinton was the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee in
the election to elect Obama's successor, and thus had a significant chance of being the next US president. A senior official in the US government suggested that Johnson's appointment would push the US further towards
ties with Germany at the expense of the Special Relationship with the UK. Ultimately, before he left office, Obama stated that German Chancellor
Angela Merkel had been his "closest international partner" throughout his tenure as president. While Obama might have had a distant relationship with Prime Minister May, he reportedly maintained a strong cordial relationship with members of the
British royal family.
May and Trump (January 2017 – July 2019) (left) and President
Donald Trump (right) in the Oval Office, January 2017. Following the election of
Donald Trump, the British government sought to establish a close alliance with the
Trump administration. May's efforts to closely associate herself with Trump proved to be strongly controversial in the United Kingdom. by members of all major parties, including her own, for refusing to condemn Trump's
"Muslim ban" executive order. An invitation for a state visit had not traditionally been extended so early in a presidency, however May did so in hopes of fostering a stronger trade relationship with the United States before the Brexit deadline. More than 1.8 million signed an official parliamentary
e-petition which said that "Donald Trump's well documented
misogyny and
vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty the Queen or the
Prince of Wales," and
Jeremy Corbyn, the
Leader of the Opposition Labour Party, said in
Prime Minister's Questions that Trump should not be welcomed to Britain "while he abuses our shared values with his shameful Muslim ban and attacks on refugees' and women's rights" and said that Trump should be banned from the UK until his travel ban is lifted. London Mayor
Sadiq Khan and the Conservative leader in Scotland,
Ruth Davidson, also called for the visit to be cancelled. the visit occurred in July 2018 and included a meeting with the queen, but not the ceremonies and events of a full state visit. It had been reported that, in their phone calls, Trump had made a habit of interrupting May. In response, Trump tweeted, "Don't focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom, We are doing just fine!" The dispute between Trump and May weakened the perception of a strong "special relationship" under May's leadership and undermined her efforts to craft an image of a close relationship with the United States in order to ease the passage of Brexit. Some viewed Trump's tweets as causing significant harm to the Special Relationship. In February 2018, Trump—in an attempt to rebuke a push by some in the U.S.
Democratic Party for
universal healthcare—tweeted that, "thousands of people are marching in the UK because their U system is going broke and not working". Trump's criticism of the UK's
National Health Service (NHS) was factually inaccurate; the
protests in the UK that Trump referenced actually pushed for an improvement in NHS services and increases in funding, and were not in opposition to the NHS or to Britain's universal healthcare system. The tweet furthered strained the Trump-May relationship, and May responded by declaring her pride in the UK's health system. At the
2018 G7 summit, Trump repeatedly made apparent slights towards May. Despite this, May stated that her relationship with Trump remained strong. At the
2018 Brussels summit, May sought to curry favor with Trump by supporting his complaints that other NATO members had failed to meet certain levels of defence funding. Following the Brussels summit, Trump made his first presidential visit to the United Kingdom. His visit came at period in the United Kingdom's political climate which had been preceded by significant tumult for May. She was receiving significant resistance to her plans for a "soft Brexit", which had resulted several major resignations amongst her cabinet ministers. During his visit, in an interview with
The Sun, Trump, again, spoke critically of May's handling of Brexit negotiations. He stated that May's proposal would likely kill the prospects of a US-UK trade agreement. Relations between the United Kingdom and the Trump administration were further strained in 2019, after a number of confidential
diplomatic cables authored by the British Ambassador to the United States,
Kim Darroch, were leaked to the
Mail on Sunday. In the cables to the Foreign Office, which dated from 2017 to 2019, Darroch reported that the Trump administration as "uniquely dysfunctional" and "inept" and that Trump "radiates insecurity"; the cables advised U.S. officials that dealing with Trump required them "you need to make your points simple, even blunt." Following Boris Johnson's refusal to defend Darroch in a debate for the
2019 Conservative Party leadership election and Trump's statement that he would refuse to deal with Darroch, the ambassador resigned.
Johnson and Trump (July 2019 – January 2021) (left) and President
Donald Trump (right) in
New York City, September 2019. After May resigned,
Boris Johnson won the leadership contest with Trump's endorsement, and became prime minister. Trump praised Johnson as prime minister and celebrated comparisons that had been made between Johnson and himself, declaring, "Good man. He's tough and he's smart. They're saying 'Britain Trump.' They call him 'Britain Trump', and there's people saying that's a good thing." Johnson, had, in fact, been called the "British Trump" by some analysts and critics. However, Boris Johnson greatly differs in social policy, and is more socially liberal. Before and after becoming prime minister, Johnson spoke complimentarily of Trump. At the start of November, as the UK prepared for the start of its
2019 general election campaign, Trump threw his support behind Johnson and the Conservative Party, telling London radio station
LBC that a government led by opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn and his Labour Party would be "so bad for your country ... he'd take you into such bad places." In the same interview, Trump praised Johnson as, "a fantastic man", and, "the exact right guy for the times". Trump and Johnson, both regarded to be
populists, were seen as having an overall warm relationship with one another. Johnson was seen as making a deliberate effort to ingratiate himself to Trump. Johnson and Trump shared a mutual desire to see the United Kingdom undertake a hasty Brexit. Trump had previously been critical of May's approach to Brexit, viewing it as overly prolonged and cautious. After the video was publicized, Trump criticized Trudeau as "two-faced" but did not criticize Johnson or other leaders. After Trump's defeat by
Joe Biden in the
2020 United States presidential election,
Ben Wallace the United Kingdom's
Secretary of State for Defence, said he would miss Donald Trump, calling him a good friend to Britain. After the
January 6 United States Capitol attack, merely fourteen days before Trump was scheduled to leave office, Johnson publicly condemned Trump's actions in relation to the event, faulting him with having encouraged the attack's participants.
Johnson and Biden (January 2021 – September 2022) (right) and Prime Minister
Boris Johnson greet each other while attending the
47th G7 summit hosted by the UK in
Cornwall. They exchange a
social distanced greeting, as opposed to a
handshake due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Trump lost the 2020 United States presidential election. After Democrat
Joe Biden was projected the victor of the election on 7 November, Johnson released a statement congratulating him. Johnson indicated that he was anticipating working with Biden on shared priorities, such as
climate change, trade security, and declared his belief that the United States was the United Kingdom's most important ally.
Analysis of compatibility Biden has been regarded as to having a less compatible personality to Johnson than Trump had. After Biden was elected, there was some speculation that Biden would have a less friendly personal relationship with Johnson than Trump did. Analysts believed that Trump had more similarities to Johnson than Biden does. After Biden won,
Business Insider reported that sources from Biden's campaign had told the outlet that Biden held hostility towards Johnson, believing him to be a right-wing populist who is similar to Trump. Johnson's past comments about Biden's friend, political ally, and former boss Barack Obama were regarded as a source of potential animosity for Biden. Ahead of Biden's inauguration, analysts speculated that Johnson's priority for a post-Brexit free trade deal between the two nations would not be treated as a priority by Biden. For example, the United Kingdom continues to support the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action both nations had entered with Iran and other nations under the Cameron-Obama period, while Trump withdrew the United States from it. Johnson and the Conservative Party have expressed concern over climate change, as have Biden and his Democratic Party, while Trump and his Republican Party have been sceptical towards it. Trump is critical of NATO, and, as president, had levied the threat of withdrawing the United States from it due to his belief that some member nations were not contributing enough to the organization financially. Biden and Johnson, contrarily, have shared a mutual appreciation of the organization, expressing their belief of it to be a critical component of both nations'
collective defense.
Interactions Biden
took office on January 20, 2021. It was reported by
The Telegraph that Johnson was the first European leader that Biden made a phone call to after being inaugurated as president. In the first days of his presidency, Biden's administration expressed that the president desired to work closely with Johnson, looking to the
2021 G7 Summit and the
2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference as opportunities for collaboration between the two leaders. Johnson described Biden as a "breath of fresh air", stating "there's so much that [the US] want to do together" with us. The first meeting between the two leaders included plans to re-establish travel links between the US and UK, which had been banned by the US since the start of the pandemic and to agree a deal (to be called the
new Atlantic charter), which commits the countries to working together on "the key challenges of this century - cyber security, emerging technologies, global health and climate change". President Biden explicitly "affirmed the special relationship". That charter encompass democracy and human rights of all individuals, rules-based international order and fair trade, territorial integrity and freedom of navigation, protect innovative edge and new markets/standards, terrorism, rules-based global economy, climate crisis and health systems and health protection. Also in their talks, both leaders affirmed a commitment to maintaining the Good Friday Agreement, a matter which Biden is personally greatly concerned about. After their first meeting, both Johnson and Biden characterized their interaction as having affirmed the "special relationship".
Truss and Biden (September 2022 – October 2022) (left) and President
Joe Biden (right) in
New York City, September 2022.
Liz Truss became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 6 September 2022. President Biden said in a congratulatory tweet that he looked forward to "deepening the special relationship" between the US and the UK, and reinstating their commitment to support
Ukraine. In a break from tradition, Truss's first phone call as prime minister did not go to the White House, instead choosing to speak to Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy before calling Biden later that evening.
Sunak and Biden (October 2022 – July 2024) (left) and President
Joe Biden (right) in the
Oval Office, June 2023.
Rishi Sunak became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 25 October 2022. That day, President Biden called him to congratulate him on his appointment, as well as both agreeing to support Ukraine and maintaining the
Good Friday Agreement. They both also spoke about cooperation between the two countries, such as
AUKUS. In March 2023, they both met – alongside Australian Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese – at an AUKUS summit in
San Diego (where Biden jokingly asked Sunak if he could come to Sunak's California home).
Starmer and Biden (July 2024 – January 2025) (left) and President
Joe Biden (right) in the
Oval Office, July 2024.
Keir Starmer became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 5 July 2024. His first face-to-face meeting with President Biden took place in Washington DC on 10 July 2024 in conjunction with
NATO's 75th anniversary summit.
Starmer and Trump (January 2025 – present) (left) and Prime Minister
Keir Starmer (right) meet outside the
White House, February 2025. Following the election of
Donald Trump, Starmer released a statement congratulating him, emphasising the legendary status of the special relationship and highlighting the need to work with the new administration. Trump and Starmer met before the former's election as president at
Mar-a-Lago, where they had dinner together. Upon Trump's victory, he appointed businessman
Warren Stephens as the nominee for Ambassador to the UK, awaiting Senate conformation. Starmer appointed Lord
Peter Mandelson in turn as ambassador to the US, taking office shortly after Trump's inauguration. Trump was
inaugurated on 20 January 2025, officially becoming president, and Mandelson was appointed ambassador officially just under a month later. Trump, famed for his broad promises of tariffs, seemed to avoid taxing UK goods, saying they were 'out of line', but a deal could probably be worked out between them. Starmer visited the White House on 7 February, and brought with him an invitation from King
Charles III for
a second state visit to the UK at a later date. Both leaders discussed on the day a possibility of a trade deal between the two countries. During Trump's
speech on his 'Liberation Day' when he imposed tariffs on numerous other countries, the USA officially placed a 10% tariff on the UK and a 25% tariff on all foreign vehicle imports, including from the UK. Starmer responded saying the UK needed to be calm in their response, and later drew up plans for a list of 417 items that could receive reciprocal tariffs. The state visit took place on 16–17 September. Trump was hosted by King
Charles III, and eventually a trade deal was agreed between the two countries. In September 2025, Mandelson was fired from his post as US ambassador due to revelations about the nature of his
relationship with
Jeffrey Epstein. Tensions further increased in early 2026 after Trump criticised NATO allies for allegedly keeping their forces "behind the front lines" during the
war in Afghanistan, remarks widely interpreted in the United Kingdom as referring to British troops and which drew criticism from British politicians and veterans. Relations were also strained by disagreements over
U.S. policy regarding Greenland, an autonomous territory of the
Kingdom of Denmark, an ally of the UK. Starmer's persistence in maintaining the Special Relationship has led to him making statements about Trump's actions in Venezuela that were generally contrary to public and party opinion. 47% of Britons disapproved of Starmer's handling of the attacks in January 2026: Trump himself continues to be very unpopular with the British public, holding a -35 point approval rating. American perception of Starmer is fairly neutral, and he is known by less than half of the American public as of January 2026. Starmer has presided over a period of increasingly hostility to America, largely over American foreign policy. In February and March 2026, US President Donald Trump lamented over the state of the "Special Relationship" with the United Kingdom, stating the relationship is "obviously not what it was", and that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer "has not been helpful". This followed Starmer rejecting the use of UK military bases in the
United States' air strikes on Iran. In February 2026, the British ambassador to the United States,
Christian Turner, said that the term "special relationship" as used between the US and UK was "quite nostalgic, it's quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of baggage about it". He also added that "I think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States — and that is
probably Israel". ==Public opinion==