# There is no "special relationship" between the USA and UK (for some time) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 8, 2026, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304 "2026-03-08T19:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/41 "2026-03-09T23:17:00Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > ant for foreigners to understand how the American political system works. Yes, it should have fixed long ago. It was not fixed because the political party that did better than they deserved should have been honest and helped the other party to fix the system. People in the other party wanted to Again - no one fucking cares. America is Americans. America mocks, threatens, and attack countries then Americans have mocked, threatened, and attacked a country. In a representative democracy you don’t get to abdicate responsibility. oops, in a republic you don’t get to abdicate responsibility. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/42 "2026-03-09T23:19:41Z")
Of course I can. People I voted for did not do this. I am _not_ saying that America ought to be treated _better_ in a “special relationship”. I am saying that the people who voted against the American president ought to be treated better than Trump himself was treated in his first term. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/43 "2026-03-09T23:30:17Z")
Americans voted him in, twice. Your government; your actions. Your system; your result. If you are sorry then I’m sure some subset of the dead understand. I’m sure some subset of the threatened appreciate it. The rest likely do not. As for the OP and the “special relationship” it has always been a sentimentalist appeal. Similar to the slop passed around with London as Athens and Washington as Rome. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/44 "2026-03-09T23:59:35Z")
> [@Grey](#): > > I’m sure some subset of the threatened appreciate it. Thankfully, I do not blame all the inhabitants of a country for the actions of some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/45 "2026-03-10T01:03:21Z")
In a representative democracy unless you reject the system itself you are responsible for its actions. Are you more responsible than those directly making choices? Likely not, but by no stretch are you _not_ responsible for your government’s actions. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/46 "2026-03-10T15:59:12Z")
Whenever this happens, in Germany, Russia, now the US, I’d hope for a possibility of redemption in the human race’s realization that selfishness, dishonesty, and brutality are vices, not virtues; corrosive to all humanity. Even incrementally things could get better. Or maybe some humans whose turn it wasn’t to be the malefactors in their lifetimes may self-congratulatory ascribe collective guilt and the magic line of virtue bestowed by a national border. The very same attitude that keeps getting us into these fucking messes over and over. ---
**Author:** ![EnglishGrey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/englishgrey/32/14111_2.png) [@EnglishGrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnglishGrey)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/47 "2026-03-11T13:56:00Z")
I’m afraid that any Americans who think that the rest of the world is going to forget and forgive the minute Trump ceases to be President are sadly mistaken. Whilst individual Americans (like probably everyone posting on the SDMB) may well not be personally to blame for what he is doing, that’s a distinction that won’t matter in the long run. Any country that can elect Trump, twice, and behave as it is currently doing is to be viewed with suspicion for a very long time. Almost everyone I know has serious reservations about America now, and tourism to the USA is pretty much completely out of the question. And buying a Tesla…..? Where’s the BYD dealership? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/48 "2026-03-11T14:12:43Z")
> [@EnglishGrey](#): > > I’m afraid that any Americans who think that the rest of the world is going to forget and forgive the minute Trump ceases to be President are sadly mistaken. it’s not even about forgiveness, it’s about trust. America is now untrustworthy - and the fact that their electorial system is a mess just compounds the problem. If we can’t trust them to vote in a government that even pretends to abide by the rules of international engagement, trade, national sovereignty and diplomacy, then we don’t trust the US, full stop. It doesn’t matter if some democrats voted against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/49 "2026-03-11T15:14:43Z")
I see some denial in this thread and a lot in real life. I’m a marginal American: I have family in other countries and have been living in Canada for 15 years. I see my friends in deep denial, but they rarely talk to non-Americans outside of America. I do, and it’s split: a lot of people want this to be over and move on, and would be warily inclined to trust again, but cautiously. Most people, though, including me, see this as just too many betrayals, too deep and too short a time. I don’t think Americans have what it takes to repair their reputation. That requires contrition and amends, and America doesn’t do either well. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/50 "2026-03-11T16:43:05Z")
An “Apology tour” would not cut it this time? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/51 "2026-03-12T00:37:56Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Because it sounded to me like he was talking about American under 30. O.K., he was talking about Canadians under 30. I think they’re wrong about some things. Yes, this is who I have heard from. Canadian youth who are currently forming lifetime opinions about the USA. And the opinions are NOT positive. It matters not where they are getting their information from. It matters not if they are talking to American youth. They are looking at what is currently happening. And what is happening is that the USA is no longer a reliable partner to former strong allies. That is all. There is no “special relationship” anymore between the USA and many, many of their former allies. And this is not going to vanish when Trump is gone. It’s “baked in” to the opinions of people from these former allies. Hope this explains. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/52 "2026-03-12T00:40:20Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > People in the other party wanted to fix the system. It’s important for foreigners to understand that, because the system is messed up, the party in power at any particular moment doesn’t want to change things. Call me when you change the system. Until then, your country cannot be trusted. For anything. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/53 "2026-03-12T01:15:42Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > it’s not even about forgiveness, it’s about trust. Or if we want to get utilitarian about the language we use, _reliability_. Can you still _count_ on policies, deals agreed upon, promises made, beyond every 2 or 4 years, or even just for that long, or simply have to be prepared for arbitrary changes on a whim. Can you _count_ on that we’ll have your back in a crisis because it’s the right thing to do or should you be ready to be often under the bus? Can your people count on traveling to the US for visit, study or work and get to do so in peace? Hell can you _count_ on that we’ll do things in a manner consistent with simple common survival. And yeah, the “Special Relationship” was greatly a rhetorical flourish to express that the politicoeconomic elites in the US and UK felt they were sociocultural kinsmen and their broad interests coincided. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/54 "2026-03-13T01:58:33Z")
The origin (it certainly was not prior to Churchill) was Churchill’s popularity exceeding Lindbergh’s call for isolationism, and then Pearl Harbor. The USA and UK shared governance of half of Germany and had a dislike of the USSR. Oh, no particular problem with the French, but it will be some time before the USA has a “special relationship” there. The end of the Cold War pretty much ended the SR. Sure, Blair was coaxed into fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was disappointed that Starmer, after taking so much insult and abuse from trump still allowed them to stage heavy weaponry in the UK, with the UK shoring up their defenses in Oman. After all, jet fuel is expensive. Got some on hand, Kier? Send the US Treasury the cheque while we co-operate with our buddies in Israel. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/55 "2026-03-13T02:08:47Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > stage heavy weaponry What does staging heavy weaponry mean - storing heavy weaponry? ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/56 "2026-03-13T02:15:40Z")
Multiple B1 bombers and at least 2 B-2 bombers, Somehow configured for defense purposes only. [B-1 Bomber Buildup at UK Base Hits Unprecedented Levels](https://www.airandspaceforces.com/b-1-bombers-iran-british-base/) Staging just means they have landed there. Close to the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/57 "2026-03-13T02:26:38Z")
Yeah, but what does staging mean? ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/58 "2026-03-13T02:35:32Z")
So 15 B-1 Bombers, 2 B-2’s, and 3 B-52 Stratofortresses. I suppose the special relationship is that, in terms of heavy bombing firepower, the UK has about as much as it has ever had. Starmer required it all be defensive. I’m all for peace, and the B52 is a mightly plane to see fly over. Defensive? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/59 "2026-03-13T02:41:06Z")
Again, what does staging mean? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304/60 "2026-03-13T02:43:08Z")
Already answered; the planes land, refuel and so on, then continue onwards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-special-relationship-between-the-usa-and-uk-for-some-time/1028304.md?page=4)