UK Finance Minister John Healey said the Falkland Islands belong to Britain and will remain British as long as the islanders want, and that he has not heard claims that the US might side with Argentina on the islands. ^[1] US President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office that he reviews every stance always, and that the Falkland Islands sovereignty stance is just one of many stances, when asked whether the US would change its policy on the islands. ^[2] President Donald Trump stated on his Truth Social platform that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick erroneously claimed no Americans had been killed in the war with Iran because Lutnick was thinking about a previous US operation in Venezuela. ^[3] The Pentagon confirmed that 18 US service members have died in the US-Israel war on Iran, contradicting Lutnick's earlier statement. ^[4] US Vice President JD Vance stated on 2026-04-12 that the Trump administration has several options for dealing with Iran, including economic, diplomatic, military, and covert pressure. ^[5] A leaked Pentagon internal memo in April suggested the US might reassess its stance on British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands if the UK did not give sufficient support to an Iran war. ^[6] A senior US official indicated that changing US policy on British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is among options considered to encourage London to increase its defense budget. ^[7] Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box and framed the Trump administration's approach to Iran as primarily economic, describing the strategy as an 'economic choke-out' while erroneously telling the network there had not been American deaths in the conflict. ^[8] Lutnick acknowledged the mistake on X, claiming he had been thinking of the US operation in Venezuela where US forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January with minimal US casualties. ^[9] JD Vance said on 2026-04-12 that the administration would keep its plans private to preserve US President Donald Trump's flexibility in deciding how to respond to Iran. ^[10] President Trump said on 2026-04-12 that US forces carried out a 'very heavy attack' on Iran the previous night, targeting military equipment along the Strait of Hormuz. ^[11]