At the time of the American Revolutionary War which established the United States, Malta was a de facto independent vassal state ruled by the Order of St. John. During the war, the French Navy included 1,800 Maltese and knights of the Order, who played a role during the decisive Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781. Two years later, the United States Ambassador to FranceBenjamin Franklin presented a Libertas Americana medal to Grand Master Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc, thanking him for supporting the American cause. Franklin also asked de Rohan to allow American ships in Maltese ports, and the latter granted this request. The first United States Consul to Malta was appointed in 1796. John Pass, who recast the Liberty Bell in 1753, was of Maltese origin.
British Malta
During the First Barbary War of 1801–05, American ships were allowed to take in water and provisions from Maltese ports. According to Diane Andreassi: During World War II, some American ships took part in Operation Pedestal, a British convoy meant to supply Malta with critical supplies in August 1942. Most notably, the American tanker SS Ohio supplied crucial fuel and food to the islands. Later on in 1942, the aircraft carrier USS Wasp twice delivered Spitfires to Malta. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Prime MinisterPietro Badoglio signed an armistice in September 1943 on board HMS Nelson while anchored in Malta's Grand Harbour. Later on in 1943, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Malta described the island as "one tiny bright flame in the darkness – a beacon of hope for the clearer days which have come." Maltese Prime MinisterGeorge Borg Olivier met the US President John F. Kennedy at the White House on 19 September 1963, a year before Malta's independence.
Since Maltese independence
Malta and the United States established full diplomatic relations upon Malta's independence in 1964; overall relations are positive. The United States has been sympathetic to Malta's campaign to attract private investment, and some firms operating in Malta have U.S. ownership or investment. These include major hotels, manufacturing and repair facilities, and some offices servicing local and regional operations. The Maltese Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami met U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House in July 1988. On 2–3 December 1989, U.S. President George H. W. Bush met Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Malta Summit in Marsaxlokk Bay, where they officially declared an end to the Cold War. In 2005, the Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi met U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House. Malta acted as an evacuation point for US and other citizens during the Libyan Civil War in 2011. That year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton briefly visited Malta while returning from Libya. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat met President Barack Obama a number of times. On 10 August 2019, the governments of both Malta and the United States issued a joint statement emphasizing the countries' "friendship and close collaboration".
Travel
Malta is on the list of the Visa Waiver Program of the US. Maltese nationals holding a Maltese biometric passport do not require a visa for entry into the United States.
Embassies
The United States established its embassy in Malta in 1964. It was originally located in the capital Valletta, but it eventually moved to Sliema. It moved to Floriana in 1974, and again to a new building in Ta' Qali National Park in Attard in 2011. Malta has an embassy in Washington, D.C.
