Former UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has sharply criticised Donald Trump’s posture on Ukraine and the UK government’s handling of both defence spending and trade policy with the United States, in a candid interview with LBC’s Matt Frei.
Speaking during a wide-ranging segment on LBC available here, Wallace warned that the former U.S. President appears to be searching for “an exit ramp” from Ukraine, rather than securing a meaningful resolution to the conflict.
“I think the victory is getting further apart rather than closer,” Wallace said. “It’s really depressing that this [Trump] administration seems to take the side of Russia… Trump said he heard from the Russians that [a deadly strike in Sumy] was a mistake. It isn’t a mistake. They are bombing and killing people every day.”
Wallace accused Trump of adopting Kremlin talking points, including suggesting Ukraine had invaded Russia — “an absurd and insulting rewriting of history,” according to the former Defence Secretary.
Wallace added that “Trump is always on the side of himself” and accused the former U.S. President of having “some form of fetish towards President Putin.”
Turning his attention to UK foreign policy, Wallace labelled the current approach to defence funding and U.S. tariffs as “craven and pathetic.” He argued the government had offered Trump a state visit without securing any tangible policy concessions in return.
“You want to put 10% tariffs on us? That’s fine. No state visit until the tariffs are removed. And we’ll treble the digital services tax from 2% to 6%,” Wallace suggested.
He said the UK should act with greater self-worth, especially when dealing with tech giants such as Google and Meta, who “pay no VAT and no tax in this country even though they make billions from British consumers.”
Wallace also made a controversial proposal to fund higher defence spending by reducing public sector pension liabilities.
“We currently spend over 10% of GDP on welfare, benefits and pensions… The liability for public sector pensions in the UK is £2.3 trillion,”he said.“Britain has been spending a lot of its money on itself and not on its security – and taking American support for granted.”
He backed plans to increase defence spending beyond the government’s current pledge of 2.5% GDP by 2027, arguing this was inadequate given the “generational challenge” posed by global instability.
Wallace was scathing about the idea of a Trump state visit in the midst of Ukraine’s ongoing struggle.
“We’ve got it all back to front,” he said. “You don’t show up at the White House clutching an invitation from the King. That’s the prize, not the opening bid.”
He concluded with a warning that Trump was more interested in “the fanfare of the deal” than its substance, pointing to past examples including North Korea and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“He just wants to show the people of the Midwest that he got something for them. That’s all he really cares about.”
