See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 09:44 BST, 6 July 2026 | Updated: 09:54 BST, 6 July 2026
Donald Trump branded Britain a 'deindustrialised welfare zone' ahead of a major clash with Keir Starmer over defence spending.The president hit out on social media ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey where he is expected to berate the outgoing Prime Minister over a paucity of cash for the UK's depleted Armed Forces.Sir Keir last week unveiled much-criticised plans to pump an extra £15billion into defence, but it later emerged that only two thirds of it had been found so far, and it would be up to new PM Andy Burnham to find the rest.Trump has made complaints about a lack of investment by Nato allies a key focus of his relationship with the bloc, which is just as strained under his leadership as the so-called 'special relationship'.Ahead of the meeting in Ankara, he shared a post on Truth Social by a user who lamented that 'Just 100 years ago England was the greatest empire the world has ever seen.'The post went on: 'A few generations later they are a deindustrialised welfare zone, unable to stop third-world men from invading on rubber boats.'Decline happens fast. Weak leaders and suicidal empathy.' The erratic president hit out on social media ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey where he is expected to berate the outgoing Prime Minister over a paucity of cash for the UK's depleted Armed Forces Sir Keir last week unveiled much-criticised plans to pump an extra £15billion into defence, but it later emerged that only two thirds of it had been found so far, and it would be up to new PM Andy Burnham to find the restIt was Trump's second attack on a Nato ally in a week and came after criticism was levelled at the UK by his vice-president JD Vance at the weekend.He said Britain is 'amazing' but has been 'failed by its leadership for a long time', with the churn of prime ministers in recent years indicating 'something is very broken about British politics and that people are really crying out for significant structural change'.Speaking to The Sunday Times, Mr Vance, who has supported far-right figures and been critical of the UK most notably over migration, also acknowledged he could be 'provocative' in his comments but that they were made 'from a perspective of love and admiration'.He said he does not know Andy Burnham, currently in line to be the UK's seventh prime minister in 10 years with the departure of Sir Keir Starmer, but that the US will work with whoever is leader 'as successfully as we can'.The interview with Mr Vance was published as the US celebrated the 250th anniversary of America's independence from Britain on July 4.It came as Sir Keir Starmer's plan to hike defence spending by £15 billion came under scrutiny, with Downing Street unable to say exactly where the cuts required to pay for the increase will come from, with around a third deferred to the next budget.Even with the latest increase, former defence secretary John Healey – who quit in protest at the level of extra military funding being offered – said the UK would be spending 2.7% of economic output on defence in 2030.He stressed the need to 'develop a clear, credible funding plan' to ensure the UK met its Nato commitment to spend 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on core defence by 2035.Tensions over defence funding have been further fuelled by the president's designs on Greenland, which belongs to fellow Nato member Denmark, and the response of allies – including Britain – to the Iran war.Last month, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced a review of American military forces in Europe as he questioned if some members were meeting their spending commitments, claiming they still seemed 'to think the era of free-riding is here'.
