{"id":2596121,"date":"2026-04-28T12:19:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-ambassador-says-uss-special-relationship-is-with-israel-not-uk\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T12:22:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:22:05","slug":"uk-ambassador-says-uss-special-relationship-is-with-israel-not-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-ambassador-says-uss-special-relationship-is-with-israel-not-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"UK ambassador says US&#8217;s &#8216;special relationship&#8217; is with Israel, not UK"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fuk-ambassador-says-uss-special-relationship-is-with-israel-not-uk%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2596121&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Leaked remarks by U.K. Ambassador sir Christian Turner have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-commuting-his-sentence-ca-gov-newsom-reverses-parole-for-convicted-double-murderer\/\" title=\"After Commuting His Sentence, CA Gov. Newsom Reverses Parole For Convicted Double Murderer\">sparked controversy<\/a> in Washington, D.C., after he said the United States\u2019s \u201cspecial relationship\u201d is primarily with Israel-not the United Kingdom. Turner, who previously replaced Peter Mandelson, made the comments while speaking informally to a group of U.K. sixth-form students in early february,and he said the phrase is outdated and \u201cbackwards-looking.\u201d He also suggested Prime Minister Keir Starmer was \u201con the ropes\u201d in connection with the Epstein scandal, and expressed surprise that more U.S. figures hadn\u2019t been taken down.<\/p>\n<p>Turner later acknowledged that U.K.-U.S. ties remain strong due to \u201cdeep history and affinity,\u201d especially in defense and security, but he argued the relationship \u201cwill have to be different\u201d if it\u2019s labeled \u201cspecial.\u201d The British Foreign Office said the comments were private and not representative of the U.K. government\u2019s position. The controversy arrives ahead of king Charles III\u2019s state visit to the U.S.,potentially complicating expectations around the two <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >countries\u2019 traditionally close relationship<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/united-kingdom\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"547\">United Kingdom\u2019s<\/a> ambassador said that the United States\u2019s \u201cspecial relationship\u201d was with <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/israel\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"219\">Israel<\/a> rather than its mother country, in leaked comments that have sent shockwaves around Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p>U.K. Ambassador Sir Christian Turner, who took over from the scandal-ridden Peter Mandelson, has found himself in a scandal of his own after several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jen-psaki-dodges-whether-biden-agrees-with-maxine-waters-controversial-remarks\/\" title=\"Jen Psaki Dodges Whether Biden Agrees With Maxine Waters\u2019 Controversial Remarks\">controversial remarks made<\/a> to U.K. students were <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d4bfac8a-37a4-4409-ac03-a31d41b08e48?syn-25a6b1a6=1\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d4bfac8a-37a4-4409-ac03-a31d41b08e48?syn-25a6b1a6=1\">leaked<\/a> to the <em>Financial Times<\/em>. In a series of comments made in mid-February, Turner voiced his surprise that more U.S. figures hadn\u2019t been taken down by the Epstein scandal, and suggested that Prime Minister Keir Starmer was \u201con the ropes\u201d over the scandal. His most controversial comments, however, were those downplaying the U.K.\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-only-gopers-cared-as-much-about-spending-as-they-do-tariffs\/\" title=\"If Only GOPers Cared As Much About Spending As They Do Tariffs\">storied relationship<\/a> with his host country.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4543953\/iran-foreign-minister-heads-russia-support-from-putin\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Iran\u2019s foreign minister heads to Russia to garner support from Putin<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4543710\/trump-negotiators-no-travel-iran-peace-talks\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump says US negotiators will no longer physically travel for Iran peace talks<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/foreign-policy\/4541480\/trump-putin-g20-miami-very-helpful\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump says Putin attending G20 in Miami would be \u2018very helpful\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet Britain\u2019s King Charles III and Queen Camilla during a State Visit arrival ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201c\u2018Special Relationship\u2019 is a phrase I try not to utter \u2019cause it\u2019s quite nostalgic, it\u2019s quite backwards-looking, and it has a lot of baggage around it,\u201d Turner said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>\u201cI think there is probably one country that has a special relationship with the United States \u2014 and that is probably Israel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>His comments were made weeks before the U.S. and Israel carried out their first joint combat operations against Iran, the first time the two had fought as direct co-belligerents.<\/p>\n<p>Despite his downplaying of the relationship, Turner did cede that the U.K.-U.S. relationship was still \u201cso strong,\u201d due to a \u201cdeep history and affinity,\u201d including modern ties on \u201cdefense and security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe relationship will carry on, if you want, being \u2018special\u2019, but I think it\u2019s going to have to be different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese were private, informal comments made to a group of UK sixth-form students visiting the US in early February,\u201d the British Foreign Office said in a statement. \u201cThey are certainly not any reflection of the UK Government\u2019s position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His comments came during an informal discussion on diplomacy and politics and weren\u2019t intended to be on the record.<\/p>\n<p>Turner\u2019s comments come just ahead of King Charles III\u2019s state visit to the U.S. and threaten to put a damper on what was set to be an optimistic showcase of the storied \u201cspecial relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/4545473\/mike-johnson-king-charles-speech-congress-will-be-unifying-event\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/4545473\/mike-johnson-king-charles-speech-congress-will-be-unifying-event\/\">MIKE JOHNSON SAYS KING CHARLES\u2019S SPEECH TO CONGRESS WILL BE A \u2018UNIFYING EVENT\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Despite the U.S. beginning with a war of independence against the U.K., followed a few decades later by a war that burned Washington, D.C., to the ground, the cultural connections between the two giants led them to quickly reconcile. The bond was cemented after they fought alongside each other as two primary belligerents of the Entente in World War I, and then the Allies in World War II. The U.K. is commonly held up as the U.S.\u2019s closest ally by historians and analysts. President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"4\">Donald Trump <\/a>himself is a known Anglophile.<\/p>\n<p>British ambassadors to the U.S. have a long history of scandalizing relations between the two through leaked comments. The 1888 election between Republican Benjamin Harrison and Democrat Grover Cleveland swung in favor of the former after then-British Ambassador Lionel Sackville-West told someone he thought was a British citizen that Cleveland best served the interests of the U.K. The \u201c<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3276160\/trump-historic-return-to-office-parallels-the-only-other-president-do-the-same\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3276160\/trump-historic-return-to-office-parallels-the-only-other-president-do-the-same\/\">Murchison letter<\/a>\u201d led to widespread anti-British backlash over the perception of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/did-president-trump-spring-a-trap-on-treasonous-democrats-on-election-night\/\" title=\"Did President Trump Spring a Trap on Treasonous Democrats on Election Night?\">foreign interference<\/a> and sparked outrage among Irish Americans who flocked to Harrison, costing Cleveland the election.<\/p>\n<p><em>Mabinty\u00a0Quarshie contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK ambassador says US \u201cspecial relationship\u201d is with Israel; leaked remarks scandalize Washington<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2596122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26117828453213.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[11079,3817,4671,37154,32405],"class_list":["post-2596121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ambassador","tag-diplomacy","tag-israel","tag-uk-politics","tag-united-states"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/AP26117828453213.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2596121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2596125,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596121\/revisions\/2596125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2596121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2596121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2596121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}