Donald Trump’s threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO
The public articulation by Donald Trump of a new desired target for NATO allies to spend 5% of national income on defence will surely plunge governments across Europe into crisis mode – not least here in the UK.
Britain presents itself to the world and in particular to the United States as the biggest defence spender in Europe and NATO’s most powerful European military.
Yet Sir Keir Starmer has not even managed to set out a timeline for what he describes as a “path to 2.5%” of GDP being invested in his armed forces, up from just over 2% today.
If the prime minister merely sticks to this pledge, he risks being viewed by the new administration as woefully unambitious and not credible on defence.
Then there is the extraordinary threat by Mr Trump to seize Greenland by force if necessary, even though this valuable piece of territory belongs to a fellow NATO ally in the form of Denmark.
The move – were it to happen – would demonstrate the limitations of the alliance’s Article 5 founding principle.
It is supposed to guarantee that all allies would come to the defence of any member state which is under armed attack.
But what about if the aggressor is also meant to be an ally?
The president-elect also appeared to dash any hope of Ukraine being offered membership to the alliance anytime soon – a core request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Instead, Mr Trump sounded sympathetic to Vladimir Putin’s absolute opposition to such a move.
He said he would meet the Russian president after taking office – reiterating a promise to end the war in Ukraine, though again without spelling out how.
The outbursts came in a lengthy press conference on Tuesday that marked the starting shot in what could be a make-or-break test for NATO – an alliance of transatlantic friends that rose from the ashes of the Second World War.
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European members of NATO, as well as Canada, already took a battering the last time Mr Trump was in the White House – and rightly so.
The US had for far too long largely bankrolled the security of Europe, while the majority of its allies – including the UK – reaped the so-called “peace dividend” that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, swapping expenditure on defence for peacetime priorities such as economic growth, healthcare and education.
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Mr Trump made clear during his first term his displeasure about what he saw as Washington being ripped off and vowed to make Europe take its fair share of the burden.
He even warned member states that the US would not come to the aid of an ally that was not hitting at the very least a minimum NATO spending targeting of 2% of GDP – something they had previously pledged to do by 2024 but were slow to deliver on.
Such language electrified allies in a way that even Putin’s initial 2014 invasion of Ukraine, with the annexation of Crimea and attacks in the east of the country, had not.
Yet, with the threat from Russia growing in the wake of its full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, coupled with conflict in the Middle East and the challenge posed by China, it has become clear that this heightened level of expenditure by allies was still far short of what is required to rebuild militaries across Europe that have been hollowed out over decades.
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Mark Rutte, the new secretary general of NATO, set the stage for what is expected to be another push to ramp up investment when he delivered a landmark speech last month in which he called on allies to return to a “war mindset” and “turbocharge” defence spending.
He said this was to counter growing threats, but observers said it was also a pre-emptive response to the anticipated demands of the next Trump administration.
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Either way, it poses a huge challenge for all allies, in particular for Sir Keir Starmer.
He and Rachel Reeves face a choice: change course when it comes to their top priorities of economic growth, hospital waiting lists and new housing and instead invest more in defence or defy what will doubtless be growing demands from the United States to spend billions of pounds more on the UK armed forces – and maybe even leave the country in a position whereby the US would not come to its aid if attacked.
A federal court has paused aspects of a plan by Donald Trump to dismantle the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and put roughly 2,700 of its staff on leave.
District judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by the US president during his first term, agreed with legal arguments from the largest government workers’ union and an association of foreign service workers.
They sued to stop Mr Trump’s administration attempting to close USAID, which distributes billions of dollars of humanitarian aid around the world.
Justice department official Brett Shumate told Judge Nichols that about 2,200 USAID employees would be put on paid leave under the administration’s plans.
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“The president has decided there is corruption and fraud at USAID,” said Mr Shumate.
It echoes comments President Trump made on Friday in a post on Truth Social accusing USAID – without evidence – of corruption and spending money fraudulently.
But Karla Gilbride, a lawyer for the unions, argued the plans were unlawful: “The major reduction in force, as well as the closure of offices, the forced relocation of these individuals were all done in excess of the executive’s authority in violation of the separation of powers.”
Judge Nichols’s order, which is in effect until 14 February, blocks Mr Trump’s administration from implementing plans to place the 2,200 USAID workers on paid leave from Saturday.
It also reinstates some 500 employees who had already been furloughed.
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And there will be a ban on relocating USAID humanitarian workers stationed outside the US, after overseas staff were ordered to return home within 30 days.
Judge Nichols will consider a request for a longer-term pause at a hearing scheduled for next week.
But he rejected other requests from the unions to reopen USAID buildings and restore funding for agency grants and contracts.
Soon after being inaugurated, Mr Trump ordered all US foreign aid be paused to ensure it is aligned with his “America First” policy.
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The dismantling of USAID has largely been overseen by Elon Musk, who is spearheading the president’s effort to cut costs and bureaucracy.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio insists the government will continue providing foreign aid, “but it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interest”.
Friday’s ruling is the latest setback in the courts for the Trump administration.
Judges have temporarily paused other controversial policies, including one offering financial incentives for federal workers to resign and another ending American citizenship for anyone born in the US if their parents are in the country illegally.
A small plane which crashed in western Alaska with 10 people on board has been found and the US Coast Guard (USCG) says there were no survivors.
The Bering Air flight left Unalakleet at 2.38pm on Thursday but contact was lost less than an hour later, the firm’s operations director David Olson said.
On Saturday, in a post on X, the coastguard said: “USCG has ended its search for the missing plane after the aircraft was located approx 34 miles southeast of Nome. 3 individuals were found inside and reported to be deceased.
“The remaining 7 people are believed to be inside the aircraft but are currently inaccessible due to the condition of the plane. Our heartfelt condolences are with those affected by this tragic incident.”
The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan – carrying a pilot and nine adult passengers – was flying across Norton Sound when tracking site Flightradar24 reported it at 5,300ft before contact was lost.
It was travelling from Unalakleet, a community of about 690 people in western Alaska, to Nome, a gold rush town just south of the Arctic Circle.
The flight time is normally just under an hour.
Mike Salerno, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard, said rescuers were searching the aircraft’s last known location by helicopter when they spotted the wreckage. They lowered two rescue swimmers to investigate.
The plane was heading to Nome, just south of the Arctic Circle. Pic: AP
In a post on Facebook, Nome’s fire department issued an update: “The Nome Search and Rescue Team is spooling up with assistance from the Alaska Air National Guard with recovery efforts.
“From reports we have received, the crash was not survivable. Our thoughts are with the families at this time.”
On Friday, Lieutenant Benjamin McIntyre-Coble, from the Alaskan coastguard, explained that the plane suffered a rapid loss of altitude and speed, according to radar data, but did not expand on the potential cause.
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Weather in Unalakleet at take-off time was -8.3C (17F) with fog and light snow, according to the US National Weather Service.
Bering Air serves 32 villages in western Alaska and air travel is often the only option of travelling long distances in rural parts of the US state, especially in winter.
It comes soon after two major air accidents in the US in recent weeks.
Sixty-seven people were killed when a jet and helicopter collided in Washington DC and seven died when a medical plane crashed in Philadelphia.
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