Donald Trump urges Europe to purchase extra American weapons as insiders speculate he might try to leverage US dedication to Nato towards nation’s financial prosperity
Donald Trump has urged Britain and other allies to buy more American weapons to strengthen the Nato alliance.
The President appeared to be attempting to leverage US commitment to European security against his country’s economic prosperity.
His bid to increase US weapons sales by aligning them to foreign policy was repeated by aides at the Nato defence ministers’ summit in Brussels, according to news organisation Bloomberg.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this week that America would no longer be ‘primarily focused on the security of Europe’.
Sir Keir Starmer spoke to Mr Trump on Thursday amid the furious transatlantic row over how to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Downing Street confirmed the call took place but aides declined to offer a conclusive ‘read out’ of their discussion. But the President yesterday said the call included the pair agreeing to meet and expected it to happen in the next few weeks.
The spur of the moment call came as Mr Trump was also reported to want Europe to buy more US energy as a condition for long lasting security guarantees.
Last night, defence sources confirmed Mr Trump could attempt to leverage US commitment to Nato against European defence spending and purchases of American weapons.
Donald Trump’s bid to boost US weapons sales by aligning them to foreign policy was repeated by aides at the Nato defence ministers’ summit in Brussel
BETTER CALL KEIR: Sir Keir Starmer speaking by phone to President Trump during a dinner with US special envoy to the UK Mark Burnett
US national security spokesman Brian Hughes said: ‘President Trump and his administration are engaging our Nato allies to ensure all members carry their share of the burden and meet their defence spending obligations.
‘Getting our allies to meet those obligations strengthens Nato.’
America is expected to emphasise that if European states buy more US equipment, it will improve ‘interoperability’ between different Nato members.
But Nato countries – Britain, France, Germany and Italy in particular – want to preserve their own defence industries which are worth billions of pounds to each of their economies.
In recent years, US weapons sales to Nato states have been slowed by red tape, leading to allies buying equipment from other countries instead.
Recently, Poland signed a multi-billion-pound deal to buy hundreds of tanks, planes and long-range artillery from South Korea, in a major blow to the US.
The main delays with US equipment are said to be around the contract process and shipments of the goods.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on the US to reduce the bureaucratic complications so that European armies can grow faster in the face of Russian aggression.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte (pictured) has called on the US to reduce the bureaucratic complications so that European armies can grow faster
German MP Jurgen Hardt said: ‘There is a lot of potential. It could reduce political disputes with Nato. We could convince Trump with an economic argument.
‘It is only sensible because we do not produce enough.’
The US embassy in the UK posted a photo of the Prime Minister’s call with Mr Trump last night, showing Sir Keir at a dinner table with Mark Burnett, the US’s special envoy.
It is understood Mr Trump rang Mr Burnett who then handed his phone to the Prime Minister. Mr Burnett has close ties with Britain as his mother worked as a waitress in Downing Street more than 30 years ago.
