When Al Qaeda struck New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, the United Kingdom was one of the first countries to stand with the United States. Prime Minister Tony Blair declared that Great Britain stood “shoulder to shoulder with our American friends.” British forces contributed to the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, and many British soldiers died waging the broader war on terrorism. The actions both former President George W. Bush and Blair took came at a significant political price, but they both understood that their alliance and special relationship came with responsibility and was not simply a collection of rhetorical throwaway lines.
Former President Barack Obama treated the special relationship with disdain. In what could only have been calculated insults, he returned a gifted bust of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and gave Queen Elizabeth II a collection of his speeches. President Trump also got off to a rocky start with his British allies after he criticized supposed no-go zones where Muslims had imposed religious rule.
