Donald Trump says he would like to see the UK's defence spending boosted (Image: Getty)
Donald Trump has given Sir Keir Starmer a deadline to increase the UK's defence spending by 3% of GDP. The US President reportedly wants the Prime Minister to enact the change by 2029, the end of the current Parliament. Pentagon officials have told their British counterparts that Trump would be “happier” if the policy were delivered earlier than planned, The Times reports. It comes after the President's defence chief, Pete Hegseth, welcomed Sir Keir's announcement that UK military spending will increase to 2.5% by 2027, as the current level of 2.3% is thought of as an “irritant”.
Even this, however, does not go far enough in Washington's view, according to a senior American official. The US has therefore “sought the potential” for reaching the higher figure in the present parliament, it is believed. Reaching 3% would mean allocating ￡17.3billion to defence in 2029-30, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.
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The UK has committed to a 2.5% increase in GDP spent on defence by 2027 (Image: Getty)
A Whitehall source has suggested that US officials have also been asking whether the UK could go higher than 3% in the longer term.
European countries could use a broader definition of defence spending, it has been suggested, which would include infrastructure projects, like new roads and bridges that could transport troops.
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One diplomat said that a goal of 3.5% in the near future should be achievable, but they added that spending could not increase faster because the infrastructure and industry are not yet in place to facilitate this.
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Sir Keir said earlier this month that his commitment to increase military spending to 2.5% would result in a “defence dividend” for companies.
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He added: “This isn’t just a fight for freedom and democracy in Ukraine. No, it’s a new, more dangerous era of history, a period of global instability that fuels insecurity for working people here at home.
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“The British people have already paid a price for Putin’s aggression in Ukraine with rising bills and prices.
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“Russia already menaces our security. They’ve launched cyber attacks on our NHS spread disinformation online, and we cannot forget, just a few years ago, a chemical weapons attack on our streets in Salisbury in broad daylight in the heart of England.
“No, the battle lines in Ukraine are the front line for Western values, and the argument that defines this age is simple: national security is economic security and that’s why we’re boosting defence spending with the largest sustained increase since the Cold War.”