JD Vance is emerging as the real power in White House – he could be worse for Europe than Trump

European leaders have rushed out messages of support for Volodymyr Zelensky and are bustling to London for emergency talks in a “what the heck” moment. And he has the backing of the richest man in the world along with other billionaire tech bros. open image in gallery Donald Trump and JD Vance gesture towards Volodymyr Zelensky during their explosive Oval Office meeting When he railed against Europe for, in his words, failing to protect free speech, calling EU officials “commissars” and having a crack at the UK, he was playing to a social media gallery. “We do have a special relationship with our friends in the UK and some of our European allies, but we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British, of course what the British do in their own country is up to them, but also affect American technology companies and by extension American citizens,” Vance claimed - sitting in the same place on the sofa he used to launch an attack on Zelensky the next day. Spending on Ukraine’s defences would have to go up to around 0.4 per cent of GDP – up from the 0.2 per cent or less that many European countries cough up – for what, they claim, is the defence of democracy in our time against invading Kremlin forces. To hedge against the possibility that the anti-Nato, anti-Europe Vance, a vocal supporter of extreme right-wing parties and causes, could end up dominating the White House until 2036, Europe and the UK will have to spend much more than the 2.5 per cent of GDP Starmer has said he wants to use for defence in the UK.