Donald Trump’s threats could be a make-or-break test for NATO

Published

7 months ago

January 7, 2025

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

US

Trump says he hopes to get ‘prime territory’ back for Ukraine as he prepares for Putin summit

Published

20 hours ago

August 12, 2025

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Trump says he hopes to get 'prime territory' back for Ukraine as he prepares for Putin summit

Donald Trump has said he would try to return territory to Ukraine as he prepares to meet Vladimir Putin and lay the groundwork for a deal to bring an end to the war.

“Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory. We’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” the US president said at a White House news conference ahead of Friday’s summit in Alaska.

Mr Trump also said: “There’ll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody, to the good of Ukraine.”

He said he’s going to see what Mr Putin “has in mind” to end the three-and-a-half-year full-scale invasion.

And he said if it’s a “fair deal,” he will share it with European and NATO leaders, as well as Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who have been liaising closely with Washington ahead of the meeting.

Asked if Mr Zelenskyy was invited to the summit with Mr Putin in Alaska, Mr Trump said the Ukrainian leader “wasn’t a part of it”.

“I would say he could go, but he’s gone to a lot of meetings. You know, he’s been there for three and a half years – nothing happened,” Mr Trump added.

The US president said Mr Putin wants to get the war “over with” and “get involved” in possible talks but acknowledged Moscow’s attacks haven’t stopped.

“I’ve said that a few times and I’ve been disappointed because I’d have a great call with him and then missiles would be lobbed into Kyiv or some other place,” he said.

Mr Trump said he will tell Mr Putin “you’ve got to end this war, you’ve got to end it,” but that “it’s not up to me” to make a deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Zelenskyy says Russia ‘wants to buy time’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia “wants to buy time, not end the war”.

“It is obvious that the Russians simply want to buy time, not end the war,” he wrote in a post on X, after a phone call with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.

“The situation on the battlefield and Russia’s wicked strikes on civilian infrastructure and ordinary people prove this clearly.”

Mr Zelenskyy said the two “agreed that no decisions concerning Ukraine’s future and the security of our people can be made without Ukraine’s participation”, just as “there can be no decisions without clear security guarantees”.

Sanctions against Russia must remain in force and be “constantly strengthened,” he added.

European leaders meet ahead of call with Trump

Meanwhile, European officials have been holding meetings ahead of a phone call with Mr Trump on Wednesday.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has been speaking to foreign ministers virtually, saying on X that work “on more sanctions against Russia, more military support for Ukraine and more support for Ukraine’s budgetary needs and accession process to join the EU” is under way.

Over the weekend, European leaders released a joint statement, welcoming Mr Trump’s “work to stop the killing in Ukraine”.

“We are convinced that only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed,” read the statement.

It was signed by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“We underline our unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” they said.

Attacks continue

Despite Donald Trump’s efforts to convince Vladimir Putin to commit to a ceasefire and negotiations, Russian attacks on Ukraine have only intensified in the past few months.

Ukraine’s president has said that, in the past week, Russia launched more than 1,000 air bombs, nearly 1,400 drones and multiple missile strikes on Ukraine.

On 9 July, Russia carried out its largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the start of the war, launching more than 740 drones and missiles, breaking its records from previous weeks.

Furthermore, Mr Zelenskyy has said Russia is preparing for new offensives.

US

Trump gaffe reveals how central Putin is to his narrative – with Zelenskyy left out in the cold

Published

22 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Trump gaffe reveals how central Putin is to his narrative - with Zelenskyy left out in the cold

And then there were two.

It will be a Trump-Putin bilateral summit in Alaska.

Ukraine latest: Trump details talks with Putin

The US president has ruled out a trilateral meeting including Volodymyr Zelenskyy and is framing the talks as low stakes.

He described it as a “feel out” meeting “to see what the parameters” are, and stressed “it’s not up to me to make a deal.”

A strategic preemption perhaps, setting expectations low, and preparing the public for failure.

But he remains wedded to the notion that “land swapping” will shape any deal to end the war in Ukraine.

“Good stuff” and “bad stuff” for both sides, he said, positioning himself as the pragmatic mediator between the two.

He expressed irritation with Mr Zelenskyy’s assertion that he doesn’t have the constitutional power to concede land, though did say he hopes to get “prime territory” back for Ukraine.

The dealmaker-in-chief

Mr Trump promised to brief the Ukrainian president and European leaders immediately after his meeting with Mr Putin.

And he voiced confidence in his ability to quickly assess the potential for a deal, boasting his business acumen.

“At the end of the meeting, probably the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” he said.

Asked how he would know, he replied: “That’s what I do, make deals.”

Members of his cabinet nodded in approval.

Read more:
Why Trump will have a lot of ice to break

A law-and-order crackdown in the US capital seems timed to bolster his diplomatic stance.

He branded crime in Washington “a national emergency”, took federal control of police and deployed the National Guard.

It may seem strange that Mr Trump is talking about “taking back” Washington, ahead of a rare summit with Mr Putin.

But he’s positioning himself as bold and uncompromising before he faces a man deemed bold and uncompromising.

A telling gaffe

And he conflated the two, saying: “This is a tragic emergency, and I’m going to see Putin, I’m going to Russia on Friday.”

He isn’t going to Russia. He’s going to Alaska. But that gaffe revealed how central Mr Putin is to his narrative, even domestically.

Mr Putin wants to lock in the gains Russia has made since invading Ukraine, while Mr Trump presses for a ceasefire.

But it’s hard to envisage any ice-breaking peace deal emerging from Friday’s summit in Alaska.

How could there be when Mr Zelenskyy is out in the cold?

For now, this is a Trump-Putin power play.

US

Donald Trump will deploy National Guard troops to Washington DC to ‘re-establish law and order’

Published

1 day ago

August 11, 2025

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Donald Trump will deploy National Guard troops to Washington DC to 're-establish law and order'

Donald Trump has announced he is going to deploy National Guard troops to Washington DC to make the US capital’s streets safer.

At a White House news conference on Monday, the president said the city’s police would come under federal control as he said the murder rate in DC was “higher than” in some of the “worst places on earth”.

He said he was sending in the troops to “re-establish law, order, and public safety”.

Mr Trump said he was announcing a “historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.

“This is liberation day in DC and we are going to take our capital back.”

The president continued: “So today we are declaring a public safety emergency in the district of Columbia.”

He added it is not just about safety but also the “beautification” of the city.

“Washington DC should be one of the safest, cleanest and most beautiful cities anywhere in the world and we’re going to make it that.”

Last week, the Republican president directed federal law enforcement agencies to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option “to extend as needed”.

On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the US Marshals Service assigned more than 120 officers and agents to assist in Washington.

National Guard troops usually belong to individual states and personnel in many cases are trained to help with emergencies that those states have to deal with, such as natural disasters.

Since they are the reserve force of the US military, National Guard troops are usually part-time, meaning that they have other jobs as well.

Minority leader of the US House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, responded to Mr Trump’s announcement on Monday with a post on X which read: “Violent crime in Washington, DC is at a thirty-year low.

“Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order.

“Get lost.”

In a social media post on Sunday, Mr Trump emphasised the removal of Washington’s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go.

“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Mr Trump wrote.

“We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”