Donald Trump expects Britain and other Nato allies to stick to their defence spending pledges, the White House has said, as controversy rages over future UK military funding.
The demand by the US president came as Sir Keir Starmer was due to unveil a long-delayed investment plan for the armed forces, which has been dogged by internal government wrangling and rocked by ministerial resignations.
The outgoing Prime Minister insists it will keep Britain “safe and secure long into the future”.
But John Healey recently quit as defence secretary over the military financial settlement on offer, warning it “falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time”.
The row erupted ahead of a crucial Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey next week, where members are expected to set out a “credible path” to spending 5% of economic output on defence by 2035.
This is split into a 3.5% gross domestic product (GDP) core defence spending commitment, and a 1.5% GDP commitment to wider resilience spending.
However, in his resignation letter Mr Healey suggested the UK was on course to spend only 2.68% of GDP on core defence by 2030, casting doubt on the country’s ability to meet the target of 3.5% within the required timescale.
A White House official said: “President Trump expects Nato allies to abide by their 5% defence spending pledge.”
The new Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis is understood to have secured some extra money for the military, taking the total allocation to some £14.5 billion – up from the £13.5 billion offered to Mr Healey but short of the £28 billion officials previously said was needed.
The funding dispute comes at a critical time, with Mr Trump casting doubt on the commitment of the US to Nato that he has branded “a paper tiger”.
The US president argues America has been bankrolling the defence of other countries with tensions further fuelled over his designs on Greenland, which belongs to fellow alliance member Denmark, and the response of allies, including the UK, to the Iran war.
Earlier this month, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced a review of American military forces in Europe as he cast doubt on some members meeting their spending commitments, arguing they still seem “to think the era of free-riding is here”.
Under Mr Jarvis’s “refocused” defence investment plan (Dip), the UK’s use of drones and autonomous weapons will be ramped up, funded by a £5 billion cash injection, in response to lessons from the Ukraine and Iran conflicts.
Reflecting this shift, plans for a new fleet of next-generation destroyers have been ditched, to be replaced instead by “hybrid” vessels which will act as command hubs for drones.
