Trump: Europe must help itself first

Fresh off the back of a summit with Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington, the President of the United States granted The Spectator’s Editor-at-Large Ben Domenech an exclusive interview in the White House. One of the most pressing topics discussed by Starmer and Trump was support for Ukraine in its efforts to resist Russia’s invasion — and America’s threat to throw in the towel as Europe’s peacekeeper. It was time for Europe, Trump told The Spectator, to step into the breach.

Trump’s inability to resist promoting the superiority of American support for Kyiv aside, he is correct

“They have to step up, but they also have to get equipment,” the president said. “They have to spend more money.”

As Trump sees it, Europe can’t support Ukraine without first sorting out its own domestic defenses. Trump has repeatedly insisted that Europe’s governments increase their defense spending to as much as 5 percent. Following suit, but only marginally, Starmer earlier this week announced that he would be upping Britain’s by 0.2 percent to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027. Trump praised the prime minister for making the increase in the joint press conference the pair did yesterday.

Speaking to The Spectator, Trump highlighted how Europe’s reluctance to spend money on defense over so many years was impacting its ability to support Ukraine. “You know, they give a lot of old, older equipment [to Ukraine], things that they’re not using anymore. We’re giving them brand new stuff.”

Trump’s inability to resist promoting the superiority of American support for Kyiv aside, he is correct. Over the past three years, Britain, alongside allies including Germany, France and Poland, has donated large quantities of older military equipment and weaponry to Ukraine. 

Many army chiefs and politicians, both British and European, have expressed concerns that emptying their arsenals for Ukraine has left them unable to defend themselves should their own countries come under attack. The British armed forces’ stocks have been depleted to such an extent that from mid-2023 they had become “threadbare” and were no longer able to supply Kyiv with aid at the same rate as before, according to the armed forces minister Luke Pollard. The raise in European defense spending that Trump is pushing for should, he argues, prioritize restocking the continent’s armies.

Speaking yesterday, Trump added: “The Europeans have very old ships. Ships that don’t work, ships that are not functioning at all. They really don’t have too much of a Navy situation. Probably the best is the UK, but you know, it’s in need of help.”

Turning his attention more specifically to the war in Ukraine, Trump remarked that the “hardest part” for him in observing the conflict was to “think that all of these kids are dying.” “This week, they’re going to lose 2,000 guys,” he added. “Now, they’re Ukrainian, they’re Russian, Ukrainian, Russian. But you hate to see that, you know, ‘it’s human beings, right?’”

Branding the conflict a “drone war,” the world was seeing a “whole new form of warfare” taking place between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said. “It’s actually terrible and sort of amazing.” The North Koreans sent into battle to help Moscow’s troops drive the Ukrainian army out of the Russian region of Kursk over the past six months “went in because they wanted to learn.” With a wry chuckle he added, “They learned the hard way this was not good. They have suffered tremendous casualties.”

This weekend, Starmer will once again be convening with European leaders to relay the headlines of his tête-à-tête with the president, discuss Ukraine and the increasingly urgent need to up their defense spending. Trump will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on whether or not his advice — and demands — are listened to.