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US Officials Threaten Retaliation Against UK Over Israeli Settlements Sanctions

Zero Rss
1 month ago
US Officials Threaten Retaliation Against UK Over Israeli Settlements Sanctions

Via Middle East Eye

US officials have attacked the UK over its new trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements, amid speculation that Washington could publicly rebuke the British government.

On Tuesday morning, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee suggested the Trump administration could retaliate against Britain over its new trade sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements.

US Embassy

Meanwhile, Florida Republican Congressman Randy Fine warned that British companies could be stopped from doing business in Florida, accusing the UK of a "vanity project in support of Muslim terror".

Huckabee told the BBC that the UK's planned ban on Israeli settlement goods would be a "discrimination against the Jewish people". He suggested US states, specifically Florida, could take trade action against Britain.

Over the weekend the ambassador had accused the British government of "Jew hate" in response to criticisms of Israel's actions in Gaza by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who is himself Jewish. 

Congressman Randy Fine warned on Monday night: "As the British government considers forcing British companies to boycott portions of Israel, it should be aware that a Florida law that I passed as a member of the Legislature would ban any British company forced to comply from doing business with any state or local government in Florida."  

Fine added: "It would also end any British business participating in that boycott from doing any business in Florida if it needed any official interaction with state or local government to operate" (permits, tax collection). 

"Florida is one of Britain’s largest trading partners. They should understand that their vanity project in support of Muslim terror could cost them billions of dollars." 

Fine further said: "Any company – or nation – that boycotts Israel is boycotted by Florida."

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is expected to outline a raft of new measures on Israel in parliament in the early afternoon. 

The United States privately urged the British government not to go ahead with the ban on Israeli settlement goods, MEE understands.

Same day:

• Israeli defense minister calls total ethnic cleansing of Gaza
• He doesn’t rule out using force against UK for it sanctions
• 2 Palestinian boys killed in West Bank after settler attack
• A Palestinian village razed to the ground in WB pic.twitter.com/ONfaQb7I92

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) September 2, 2026

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham reportedly briefed US President Donald Trump on his plans to introduce sanctions on Israel on Monday afternoon. 

On Monday night, Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich called for Israel to sanction Britain and expel the UK ambassador over the issue of the Falkland Islands. Argentina and the UK both assert sovereignty over the South Atlantic archipelago, but the vast majority of the territory's 3,600 residents back British rule.

Last week, Trump suggested he would not back the UK if Argentina invaded the territory. The US president has not yet commented publicly on the UK's planned sanctions.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 10:45
Tyler Durden

Iceland Summons US Ambassador After Trump Shares American Flag Post

Zero Rss
1 month ago
Iceland Summons US Ambassador After Trump Shares American Flag Post

Authored by Rachel Roberts via The Epoch Times,

Iceland summoned the U.S. ambassador on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump posted an image on Truth Social showing the north Atlantic island and other countries covered by the American flag, according to local media RUV.

Trump's Labor Day post depicted the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Mexico, the whole of Central America and the Caribbean covered by the stars and stripes banner, with the entire landmass labeled "United States of America." The image was shared without comment by the president.

Iceland is a founding member of NATO but has no army of its own and has had an agreement with the United States for its defense since 1951.

Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Gunnarsdottir called in Billy Long, the U.S. ambassador to Iceland, who is new to the role, having formally taken up the post in August, according to RUV.

"The position was clearly expressed that the post was completely inappropriate," the foreign ministry told RUV.

'The 52nd State'

Former Missouri Congressman Long joked in January that Iceland would become the 52nd U.S. state and that he might be appointed governor.

During his Senate confirmation hearing for the ambassadorial post in February, Long acknowledged this was a mistake, but said he was not being serious.

"It was like a three-way [conversation]. Somebody said something, somebody else said something, and yes, I did add the part about the 52nd state, which was totally inappropriate. But it was not something that I said as a pronouncement that was serious," he said.

"I just hope that the people in Iceland will give me a second chance to make a first impression," he said. "I have a lot of respect for them. They have a beautiful country - 700,000 Americans go there every year. I hope I can get that up to a million by the time my term's up."

Tensions Over Greenland

Trump's repeated assertions that the United States must acquire or control Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, led to tensions between Washington and Copenhagen.

Denmark has reiterated that the mineral-rich Arctic island is "not for sale," and that the future of Greenland is for the island's people to determine, together with Copenhagen.

The situation sparked a broader diplomatic crisis within Europe and NATO, with both the United States and Denmark founding members of the defense alliance.

Iceland last month narrowly voted in a referendum against reopening EU membership talks, with Trump's ambitions for Greenland featuring in the debate around whether or not the economically prosperous North Atlantic island would benefit from joining the 27-nation bloc.

Supporters of restarting EU accession talks pointed to the changing international security environment, including uncertainty surrounding Iceland's long-standing defense relationship with the United States.

Trump made his post just hours after the EU announced a 200 million euro ($232.5 million) investment package in Greenland during a visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish news agency Ritzau in Nuuk that the Greenlandic government and the Greenlandic people "have said again and again that they do not want to be American."

"I hope no one is in any doubt about that, either in the United States or the rest of the world," she said, while on a visit to Greenland alongside von der Leyen and the Arctic island's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

Trump's 'Verbal Stumble' at Davos

In January, addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump appeared to mix up Greenland with Iceland several times, saying that Iceland had cost the United States a lot of money due to a drop in the stock market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said that Trump had misspoken and said Iceland when he meant Greenland, saying, "I think we're all familiar with presidents that have verbal stumbles. We've had presidents like that before. Some made a lot more than this one."

In 2016, an addendum was made to the Iceland-U.S. defense agreement which was neither publicly discussed nor published in Iceland when it was signed, according to RUV, which reported on it last year.

The addendum gives the U.S. military and its contractors unrestricted access to Iceland's defense areas for the purposes of defending the island, which is sparsely populated with about 393,000 people.

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tyler Durden Wed, 09/09/2026 - 10:15
Tyler Durden

Tyler Herro in bitter breakup with model after Heat trade

NY Post
1 month ago
Tyler Herro is in the middle of a custody battle in court with ex-girlfriend Katya Henry, TMZ reported Tuesday, after the couple split up this month. The two share a daughter, Zya, born in 2021 and a son, Harlem, born in 2023. Before dismissing his case all together, Herro, who claimed he had been voluntarily...
Bridget Reilly

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