Wes Streeting refuses to say whether he trusts Donald Trump

Defense Secretary Wes Streeting has refused to say whether he trusts US President Donald Trump, insisting “we are in first impressions territory”.

But in a candid interview Sky NewsNew defense secretary Sir Trevor Phillips has insisted Europe will thank President Trump for forcing them to take responsibility for their own defence.

Asked if he trusted President Trump, Mr Streeting said: “I don’t know him, but I trust the US. We’re in first impressions territory. I haven’t even been into this for a week.”

But he added that history would be kind to Mr. Trump on defense and Europe.

“We don’t always like what he says, we don’t always like his methods, but I really think that when this period of history is written, Europe will thank President Trump for snapping us out of our complacency and forcing us to stand on our own two feet and put an end to the era of over-reliance on the United States for defense.”

He continued: “What he said about Europe is not unique to President Trump, the MAGA movement, or the Republican Party. It was an example of the United States’ long-standing disappointment with Europe under Democratic and Republican presidents.”

“And it’s right that we can take action to secure ourselves in the world we live in. We can act together with our allies here in Europe, and of course we can work with the United States without being as over-dependent as we are on NATO and Europe.”

Mr Streeting also made clear that the US would remain Britain’s leading ally in an increasingly hostile world.

“I have always been aware that the alliance between the US and the UK is unlike any other alliance in the world and is of course driven by historical, cultural, political, personal as well as mutual common interests.

“But in my first week as secretary of defense, I have gained a unique understanding of how close and integral this relationship is when it comes to defense and security.”

Speaking about his first phone call with his US counterpart Pete Hegseth, Mr Streeting said: “I was clear that we did not support offensive action in Iran and we would not support offensive action in Iran.

“But there is a lot we can and should do together to invest in our and NATO’s capabilities and take simple steps to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.”

The new defense secretary also claimed he was given the job by Andy Burnham because he had proven himself a moderniser, focusing on spending money more efficiently when he was health secretary.

He claimed at the defense briefing that there would be an increase in military spending with him and former defense secretary John Healey becoming chancellors.

Mr Healey resigned as defense secretary after Sir Keir’s Defense Recovery Plan fell £13bn short and had an additional £4.7bn black hole.

Mr Streeting told Sir Trevor: “The Chancellor’s position is clear. My position is clear. During my brief period of freedom in the backbenches, I was also clear that we needed to invest more in our defence.”

“One of the reasons the Prime Minister asked me to do this job was because I was a modernizer and my approach to health was to argue yes and get more resources, and I did that, but I also did it to make sure the money that was already spent was better spent.

“In the context of the Ministry of Defence, there are clearly long-standing issues around defense procurement, value for money and so on.”

Mr Streeting resigned from his former role as health secretary following the disastrous local election results in May, in the hope that Sir Keir Starmer would step down.

Mr Burnham has made fixing social care a priority in the health report, complaining that past governments have not tried to tackle the problem head-on.

But Mr Streeting insisted the criticism was not directed at him personally.

He said: “My frustration has been that we haven’t put social care high enough on the government’s overall agenda, and that’s a problem because there are two big fundamental questions we need to address.

“The first is what we think social care should do, and the second is how it should be funded. And successive governments, I understand, have treated this as the third rail of British politics.”

“So one of the things I tried to do with the Louise Casey Commission was to try to build a national consensus on these questions.”