UK Defence Minister: America Has a Point on Europe Being ‘Pathetic Freeloaders’

While the default European position on purported leaked messages calling their defence policy pathetic freeloading has been outrage and despair, the United Kingdom accepts “the Americans have absolutely got a case” on lack of military spending on the continent.

Responding to alleged leaked ‘Signal’ encrypted messenger texts between senior Trump administration figures including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Britain’s defence minister declined to join in outrage and say the messages have a point.

Speaking to Times Radio on Wednesday, Defence Minister John Healey said he found America’s new attitude that Europe must stop totally relying on America for its own security as a challenge to rise to. He said: “The Americans have got a case, the Americans have absolutely got a case that on defence spending, on European security, on our support for Ukraine, European nations can and will do more and the UK is leading the way.”

Healey repeatedly cited the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ group of nations stepping forward to militarily support Ukraine, should the United States decide to stop doing so, as evidence that the United Kingdom is complying with President Trump’s wishes.

He continued: “We’re responding to that American challenge for European nations to do more to support Ukraine and we are… I’m proud we’re leading this coalition of the willing, to continue to support Ukraine just like we did through the war into the peace so they can secure their long-term future and ensure Russia never again invades Ukraine as a sovereign country.”

Several European leaders have said that while they support such an initiative in principle, actually they wouldn’t be willing to get involved unless it was ultimately underwritten by an American military backstop, a Catch-22 return to starting positions. When asked whether the UK would be willing to support Ukraine even without America at all, he stopped short of giving a definite answer, stating: “Those are decisions, those are discussions that jump well ahead of where we are now. The focus must be first of all on a successful conclusion of the peace talks and we back President Trump in creating this opportunity”.

Earlier this week, Signal chats allegedly acquired by The Atlantic appeared to show a user identified as ‘JD Vance’ spoke of U.S. military strikes to maintain freedom of navigation to keep global commerce open and said: “I just hate bailing Europe out again”. A user identified as Pete Hegseth replied: “I full share your loathing of European free-loading. It’s PATHETIC”.

It has been U.S. policy for decades that European nations be subordinate, but cooperative powers in defence. It appears this long-established norm is now evaporating as U.S. President Donald Trump demands those allies become more active participants and not so reliant on American protection, but evidently adjusting to the new paradigm is taking time.

Vice President Vance’s alleged frustration at Europe benefitting from American military power being used to keep trade flowing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal stems from U.S. foreign policy decisions that Europe should not have power over the Suez Canal made before he was born. Should Europe pivot to a position where it is able to independently defend its economic interests at sea — a process that would likely take years — the United States would likely be able to exercise less influence in the capitals of Europe, but would be obliged to spend considerably less of its own voters’ money in protecting them.

While the leaked texts — if genuine — may have come into the public realm inadvertently, it is not as if Vice President Vance is in any way shy about telling Europe to shape up. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last month, Vance rocked European leaders to take more responsibility for itself, to fix its democracy, and to be less hypocritical.

Again, outrage met Vance’s words but some quietly acknowledged he’d spoken truth. Vance “had a point” on mass migration being a threat to Europe, Denmark’s Prime Minister later said, stating: ““No matter if you look at statistics on crimes or if you look at problems on the labour market, insecurity in local communities, it is the most vulnerable who experience the consequences”.