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Falklands hero Simon Weston says he has faith King Charles will help smooth relations with Donald Trump amid a furious row over the British islands. The veteran said the monarch will be able to “rebuild the special relationship” when he meets the US President during next week’s state visit.

Tensions have intensified after a leaked Pentagon email set out options for the Trump administration to punish NATO allies for refusing to join the US-Israeli strikes against Iran. It suggests reassessing US ‌diplomatic support for “imperial possessions” such as the South Atlantic islands.

Mr Weston, who suffered horrific burns in the 1982 conflict, said he has confidence that the King and Queen Camilla’s trip, to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence, will help restore UK-US relations.

He told the Express: “I do think the King is an absolute gift, he will be able to rebuild the special relationship back with the US.

“I don’t think the relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Starmer will ever be fixed, but it will be between the two countries.”

The Welsh Guardsman, now 64, was on board the RFA Sir Galahad when it was bombed and set ablaze by three Argentinian A4 Skyhawks at Fitzroy during the Falklands conflict.

A total of 48 men were killed and a further 97 wounded.

Mr Weston accused the US President of having a “hissy fit” over Britain’s response to the Iran war and said Trump “knows nothing” about the Falklands.

“To be honest, he’s behaving like a child over this; he knows nothing about the Falklands.

“He’s angry over Iran, but where were the Americans 44 years ago?

“Trump made his bed over Iran, now he has to lie in it.”

The confidential Pentagon memo, reported by Reuters, expresses frustration over certain allies’ reluctance or refusal to support Washington’s military action against Tehran.

Downing Street hit back on Friday, insisting the UK’s position on the Falkland Islands “isn’t going to change”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Falkland Islands have hugely voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory, and we’ve always stood behind the islanders’ right to self-determination and the fact that sovereignty rests with the UK.

The 74-day Falklands conflict erupted after Argentina made a failed bid to take them.

Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.

Admiral Lord West, who commanded the HMS Ardent during the war, said: “How dare they! “Donald Trump does not understand Nato, alliances in general or alliance leadership.

“He appears disposed to allow the most successful political-military alliance in modern history to be destroyed.

“Vladimir Putin could not be happier.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch described the threat as “absolute nonsense”, comparing it to Mr Trump’s previous threat to annex Greenland.

“The Falkland Islands are British, they have been for a very long time. The sovereignty is British sovereignty,” she told broadcasters.

“I don’t know what Donald Trump is talking about. This sounds like the sort of thing he was saying when it came to Greenland.

“I don’t think we need to take it that seriously just yet, we need to make sure that we are very determined in protecting British sovereign territory, and that includes the Falkland Islands as well as Chagos.”

Argentinian president Javier Milei is a close ally of Mr Trump, and has reiterated the country’s claim to the islands they call Islas Malvinas.

Reform leader Nigel Farage said he would raise the issue personally with the Argentinian president.

“This is utterly non-negotiable. There is no way we’re even going to have a debate about the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

“That message, of course, will go to the Americans, clearly. But equally, I’m going later this year to meet President Milei in Argentina and I shall say ‘look, we want great relations with your country but this is non-negotiable’.”

But Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said King Charles’ state visit to the US, taking place next week, should be cancelled.

“The state visit should clearly be pulled – this unreliable, damaging President cannot keep insulting our country”, he said.

Now a British Overseas Territory, the Falkland Islands’ defence is provided by the United Kingdom at a permanent military base, RAF Mount Pleasant, which was built on the Falklands and opened in 1985 by the Duke of York.

The base, which is solely operated by British forces and is not shared with the US, is a key military asset, as it forms the centre of the British military’s presence in the South Atlantic, with between 1,300 and 1,700 military and civilian personnel based there at any one time.

Mr Trump has repeatedly insulted Sir Keir after he refused to join offensive action against Iran, calling him cowardly and “no Winston Churchill”.

He has claimed he refused an offer of Britain’s “toy” aircraft carriers being deployed to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz – something the UK is adamant was never contemplated.

The US was initially blocked from using British bases for Iran operations, Sir Keir later authorised defensive missions aimed at protecting allies in the region.

Shadow Armed Forces Minister Mark Francois said: “Because of his strong personal bond with Mrs Thatcher, President Reagan ultimately backed Britain during the 1982 Falklands War.

“The fact the Americans could now even be contemplating something like this, shows just how far their relations have deteriorated with Starmer’s hapless, failing government.

“When the US invoked Article 5 of the Nato Treaty immediately after 9/11 – the only time it’s ever been done – Britain was one of the first countries to respond, with support from our special forces, hunting Islamist terrorists in the caves of Tora Bora.

“I was at a conference in Washington DC yesterday, where I politely reminded our American cousins of that very point.”

Another option listed in the email was kicking Spain out of Nato altogether.

Argentina has historically said it has a right to the Falklands on the basis it inherited them from the Spanish crown in the early 1800s when it became independent, as well as their proximity to the South American mainland.

Falkland Islanders have overwhelmingly expressed their desire to remain as a British territory.

A 2013 referendum among the island’s 1,650 eligible voters saw all but three voting to continue as an overseas territory, on a turnout of more than 90%.

Successive British governments have long maintained that the island’s population has a right to self-determination under international law established by the United Nations Charter.