Boris Johnson warns European countries ‘will have to’ cave in to Trump’s demand over defence spending
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said European countries “will have to” cave in to President Trump’s demand that all Nato members spend five per cent of GDP on defence.
Talking to GB News after his exclusive interview when asked about Trump’s demand for five per cent spending from European leaders, he said: “they’ll have to.”
Trump has said that Nato countries “can afford it”, a view not shared in Europe. But Mark Rutte, the new Nato Secretary General, has now said that a new target of over three per cent is likely to be set in June.
The UK currently spends 2.3 per cent on defence, with the government only saying it will “lay out a pathway” in the coming months to get to 2.5 per cent. No 10 told GB News today that, contrary to reports in the Sunday papers, there won’t be an imminent announcement and stressed the Strategic Defence Review is still ongoing.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is already constrained by a fiscal straitjacket, and departments are being told to make cuts. Further tax rises seem very possible too.
There is frustration amongst military leaders who believe spending needs to increase hugely to counter the threat posed by Russia, and that the government’s current plans “barely touch the sides.”
Speaking to GB News at the Munich Security Conference, Johnson, who led the West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago, said “Trump has a very, very good point….Look at the sheer quantity of American weaponry kit that’s gone to Ukraine. $65 billion worth, at least. Compare it to what has come from the whole of the rest of Nato, the whole of Europe. And it is it dwarfs it.
“And so what Trump is trying to say to the Europeans, to us Brits, to everyone is man up and step up or, you know, person up, you Europeans have got to do more.”
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Johnson struck a more positive tone about President Trump’s intentions than the European leaders, saying “I think there’s quite a lot of headless chickenism, quite frankly, from the Europeans about what the Trump administration is saying.”
Having spent the last three days at the conference, Johnson’s outlook is in stark contrast to most here. European leaders have have several sudden and deeply unpleasant shocks one after the other, and are reeling as they adjust to a world where Europe can no longer rely on America to come to its protection.
First, the bombshell phone call from Trump to Putin; ninety minutes talking to a man who to Western leaders is an international pariah. Made worse by comments from US Defence Secretary Peter Hegseth, including that the US can “no longer be primarily focused on the security of Europe.”
Then, a twenty minute telling-off by Vice-President JD Vance, over what he sees as suppression of free speech and allowing millions of migrants into Europe, while barely mentioning Ukraine, but making clear that Europe must step up for its own security.
Finally a speech from embattled Ukrainian President Zelensky, warning “I urge you to act for your own safety”. Ukrainian intelligence, he says, suggests Russia sending 100-150 000 troops into Belarus this year, and that Russia may well attack a Nato country next year.
A similar message is coming from Dutch intelligence, who believe Russia may start “a large scale war in Europe” within 5 years if it “perceives Nato as militarily weakened or politically divided.”
No wonder then that French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting an emergency summit in Paris tomorrow to try to come up with a coordinated response from Europe. The US has also indicated that Europe will be left out of negotiations between the US and Russia. It’s not clear either whether Ukraine will be at the initial talks set to start in Saudi Arabia.
The Munich Security Conference has been taking place since 1963, usually without causing shockwaves around the world. This one has been different. It feels like the world has suddenly changed. We haven’t spent five per cent on defence since the mid 1980s.
It would be extraordinarily expensive, and it’s not clear how will we will begin to pay even for the rise to 2.65% that military leaders are currently saying is essential (that’s £10 billion right there).
But we do know we need to spend more, and soon. The first duty of a government is of course to keep its citizens safe.
That doesn’t feel like something we can take for granted anymore. Whatever Boris Johnson’s optimism.