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The US-UK “special relationship” is often regarded as a mere product of British imagination. A common jest suggests that the connection is so remarkably distinctive that solely the British are aware of its presence.
Actually, that’s incorrect. Officials in both nations genuinely consider the relationship unique. However, Maga leaders engage in this connection not with the current UK, but with a conceptualized vision of a bygone Britain. This means they are perpetually let down by the nation’s contemporary manifestation. Meanwhile, British leaders force themselves into excessive deference towards America.
Subsequent to relinquishing its empire, the UK ultimately assumed the position of America’s junior partner. The guiding principle (as humorously rephrased by Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach) became “America First, Britain Second.” This inclination contributed to some of Britain’s most significant political misjudgements. In 2003, Tony Blair led the nation into the American conflict in Iraq. Subsequently, Brexit was partially fueled by the British right’s illusion that a superb American trade agreement would compensate for departing the European single market. (This illusion culminated in self-mockery, with the UK having inked a “commerce pact” with the state of South Carolina.)
Keir Starmer was so keen to maintain the distinctiveness of the connection that he appointed the renowned political strategist Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, notwithstanding Mandelson’s continuous associations with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Appeasing Washington is an even deeper impulse within the British right-wing, who, during every American conflict, begins to reenact D-Day scenarios. Nigel Farage of the Reform party initially championed participation in Trump’s unscripted, unlawful, and detrimental conflict with Iran.
Maga’s interpretation of the unique bond carries greater weight. The anti-immigrant faction favors the initial, most unmixed American colonists, a group predominantly of British heritage. In the US census of 2020, 46.6 million people reported partial or complete “English” ancestry, surpassing any other white ethnic group.
Elon Musk cherished his grandmother from Liverpool, Donald Trump’s mother was raised speaking Gaelic on a Scottish isle, and vice-president JD Vance sees himself as fundamentally “Scots-Irish hillbilly.” Their common language enables them to monitor developments in Britain, or at least chosen information channels concerning such occurrences. Consequently, they are more sentimentally involved with Britain than with, for instance, India or Japan.
Many expatriate communities foster sentimental ideas regarding their “homeland.” A former British intelligence head clarifies that Trump and Musk cling to a past, predominantly white UK. The present-day diverse nation disheartens them. The land of their forefathers has transformed into a grim caution, salvaged solely by its monarchy and famed golf links. Maga figures lament the perceived decline of London, where Trump asserts crime has skyrocketed, under a “dreadful, dreadful mayor,” Sadiq Khan, whom they allege is scheming to implement sharia law. Steve Bannon, Trump’s erstwhile counselor, holds that “England is on a trajectory towards civil conflict,” a result Musk labels “unavoidable,” or which may have already commenced. The magnate, who romanticizes a vanished Britain of “charming small communities” inhabited by individuals “akin to Hobbits,” persistently assails the current deceptive nation. Conversely, he has largely refrained from criticizing Germany since authoring a piece encouraging Germans to support the far-right.
Britain’s relinquishment of superpower standing triggers additional charges of deterioration. Irrespective of the fact that it would be more equitable to view the UK as a contemporary nation that has ceased oppressing others and evolved into a reasonably respectable global actor. Following its refusal to participate in an American conflict, Trump grumbled about “our formerly Grand Ally, perhaps the Foremost of all,” which did not promptly permit him to utilize its Diego Garcia base to strike Iran, and whose head of state was “not Winston Churchill.” This appears to be an excessive degree of focus directed at a nation possessing a land force inferior to Poland’s, a naval fleet smaller than France’s, and defense expenditure less than Germany’s.
Given Maga’s backing of European far-right factions, one might anticipate its attention to be on France, where the extreme right is poised as a leading contender for the upcoming presidential election. However, French matters are managed in French, and prominent French far-right figures have limited English proficiency, thereby curtailing networking prospects. Conversely, Maga figures dedicate considerably more time to Farage — the initial British politician to encounter president-elect Trump in 2016, preceding prime minister Theresa May by several months — and fostering connections with the even more radical Tommy Robinson. Prominent Maga commentators Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones held courteous discussions with the erstwhile football hooligan, whereas Musk counseled “the English” to “align with robust individuals, such as Tommy Robinson . . . otherwise, they will undoubtedly perish.”
The UK would benefit from desiring a less unique bond.
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