UK ditched plans to send aircraft carrier to naval parade celebrating America's 250th anniversary 'because Trump was rude about the size of our warships'

By BRENDAN CARLIN FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY Published: 00:54, 5 July 2026 | Updated: 00:59, 5 July 2026 The UK ditched plans to send an aircraft carrier to yesterday's spectacular international naval review marking 250 years since US independence in a riposte to Donald Trump branding British carriers 'toys', it was claimed last night. Defence sources claimed the Royal Navy scrapped plans for HMS Prince of Wales to join other NATO vessels in the parade in the port of New York and New Jersey in direct response to President Trump's insult in March. The Mail on Sunday understands that the UK originally offered the carrier's participation last year, and in January, the US Navy itself announced that a 'British aircraft carrier' would be taking part. One defence source said that the Prince of Wales crew were bitterly disappointed not to be heading 'to the Big Apple'. The source added: 'This is not a very subtle move as we all know that the US President was rude about the size of our warships.' Sailors serving aboard HMS Prince of Wales are said to be furious as they had been looking forward to the special visit as the ship would have docked in New York with the US also currently gripped with World Cup fever. The mother of a crew member, who asked not to be named, said her son emailed her recently when the carrier was in Stavanger, Norway, to tell her it looked like the US trip might be cancelled. She said: 'He is devastated and so are his mates as they were all looking forward to visiting America and being part of the big independence celebrations. Defence sources have claimed that the Royal Navy has scrapped plans for HMS Prince of Wales to join a parade in the US The plan to send the aircraft carrier was ditched after Donald Trump said that British carries are 'toys' However, last night, Ministry of Defence (MoD) sources denied that Mr Trump's comments were the reason for the change of plan. In a statement, an MoD spokesperson said: 'HMS Prince of Wales is currently on NATO operations deterring Russian aggression in the High North. 'This commitment means that the carrier will not conduct port visits in North America during its Operation Firecrest deployment.' The spokesperson added that UK Armed Forces were 'supporting a range of celebratory events across the US this summer' – including yesterday's July 4 fly-past over New York by the Red Arrows. In an apparent swipe at lack of UK support over the Iran war, Mr Trump in March dismissed the UK carriers, saying: 'They're toys compared to what we have.' Former Defence Minister Al Carns, who served in the Royal Marines and was deployed on the ships, hit back to insist that the British carriers had 'formidable capabilities'. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.