Starmer agrees with Trump on European defence commitment

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (pictured) said US President Donald Trump has a point that European countries must bear a greater burden for their collective self-defence, the New York Times said on Sunday.

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"We need to think about defence and security in a more immediate way," he told the newspaper in an interview. Starmer is trying to assemble a multinational military force that he calls a coalition of the willing to keep Ukraine's skies, ports, and borders secure after any peace settlement, the report said.

On Trump, Starmer said, "On a person-to-person basis, I think we have a good relationship." But, he said, the US leader's actions, from imposing a 25 per cent tariff on British steel to berating President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, had generated "quite a degree of disorientation".