UK Unveils Plan To Pour Cash Into Defense Just Days Before Liberal PM Is Expected To Meet Trump

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a plan Tuesday to inject cash into his country’s military just days before he’s set to meet with President Donald Trump, who has been a vocal critic of European nations’ inability to fund their own defense.

Starmer, the Labour Party prime minister, told Parliament that the UK will move to increase defense spending by 2.5% of its gross domestic product by 2027, as Starmer is set to meet with Trump in Washington D.C. on Thursday. Trump has continued to pressure Europe to spend on its defense budgets as more European countries scramble to adjust to a U.S. administration less willing to splurge on the continent’s defense.

“We must go further still. I’ve long argued that in the face of ongoing generational challenges,” Starmer said in a speech to Parliament  outlining his defense spending plan. “All European allies must step up and do more for our own defense. So subject to economic and fiscal conditions and aligned with our strategic and operational needs, we will also set a clear ambition for defense spending to rise to 3% of GDP in the next Parliament.”

Starmer said the budget increase would be in part funded by cutting overseas development aid from .5% to .3% of the gross national income. The U.K. currently spends 2.3% of its GDP on defense, totaling to around $68 billion in fiscal year 2023 to 2024, according