Until a few weeks ago, the UK, Canada and Europe saw the US as a key military ally. That’s no longer the case.
We all watched in horror as Trump and his crony JD Vance turned on heroic Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Oval Office.
Today, we don’t know who’s side Trump is on. The only thing we can rely on is his complete unreliability as an ally.
Trump’s refusal to commit to NATO’s collective defence, his open admiration for evil Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, and his willingness to extort Ukraine by withholding military aid been a collective wake-up call.
The US is no longer on our side.
Canada and Europe are fighting back, with every weapon of their disposal, and the UK will have to do the same.
Now we’ve hit upon a secret weapon.
Western countries have become dependent on American military hardware. And the US could potentially render much of it unusable by flipping a simple ‘kill switch’.
The solution?
Weaponise that hardware against Trump.
The F-35 fighter jet is a symbol of US military prowess. Now it’s the focal point of a growing rebellion against Trump’s reckless foreign policy.
Before Trump was in office, Canada agreed a lucrative £10billion order for 72 F-35s. New Prime Minister Mark Carney blocked that within hours, saying “other options could better meet Canada’s needs”.
Now he’s being reinforced by Europe.
Portugal’s defence minister Nuno Melo says upgrading his country’s ageing fleet of F-35s is no longer a “safe choice” due to Trump’s unpredictability.
Germany, once pushed into an F-35 purchase by Angela Merkel to placate Trump, takes the same view.
Trump may have thought he could push those soft Europeans around but they’re pushing back in the one place it hurts: the defence industry.
It’s already happened with electric car maker Tesla, run by key Trump supporter Elon Musk.
Tesla sales in Europe have plunged 70%, as eco-minded liberals would rather buy electric cars from the Chinese.
This is more than just a political gesture. It has real economic consequences.
The Tesla share price has crashed 40% this year
Shares in Lockheed Martin, the defence giant behind the F-35, have plunged 25%.
Meanwhile, UK and European defence stocks are rocketing.
Shares in FTSE 100 defence giant BAE Systems have soared 40% in three months.
Dassault Aviation, the French manufacturer of the Rafale jet, has almost doubled in value, and French missile-maker Thales is up 90%.
The UK, Italy, and Japan are pushing forward with the Tempest fighter programme. France, Germany, and Spain are collaborating on the Future Combat Air System (FCAS).
A European missile shield is gaining momentum, with the Franco-Italian SAMP/T system emerging as an alternative to the US-made Patriot system.
And in Germany, a new defence initiative called “Sparta” is plotting a massive expansion of drone warfare and European hypersonic weapons.
None of the kit will be sourced from the US.
Even if Trump relents, there’s no going back. We can’t rely on the Yanks any longer.
The US defence industry enjoy sales of £320billion a year, almost half of the global total. Not for much longer.
Trump’s war on his allies is blowing up in his face – just like Lockheed Martin’s stock price.
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