A former UK defence secretary has accused Donald Trump of colluding with Russia over Britain’s allies in a bombshell statement.
Ben Wallace also stood out for his decision to grant the US president an unprecedented second state visit to Britain, which begins on Tuesday.
His comments came after Trump demanded that NATO members reduce import tariffs on Chinese exports to 100%, which would only be lifted after the end of the Ukraine war.
In the Truth Social post, Trump also said it was a “Biden and Zelensky war,” even though it began with Russia’s invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.
He said, “If NATO does as I say, the war will end quickly, and all these lives will be saved! If not, you are just wasting my time and the time, energy and money of the United States.”
Shashank Joshi, editor of The Economist, posted on X: “Trump is making impossible NATO demands as conditions for sanctions on Russia. NATO allies are not going to impose 100% tariffs on China. This means that he is not going to follow through on any of his threats.”
Wallace responded: “Trump never intended to force Putin to do anything. That was obvious from Day 1, but [the Foreign Office], as always, tried to deal with the world as they want it to be, not as it actually is. So now we have a state visit from a man who supports our enemy, not our allies.”
Before his presidential re-election last year, Trump claimed that he could stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office.
But despite his many attempts to end the conflict, including rolling out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin at a summit in Alaska, it still continues.
Just last week, Poland announced that it had shot down Russian attack drones after they entered the country’s airspace.
