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Donald Trump’s pick of Republican Senator JD Vance as his running mate in the upcoming US Presidential election should send alarm bells to everyone concerned about the UK’s national security.
Nowhere is this more clear than on the biggest current security threat to our continent – Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
For years Vance has been firmly on Moscow’s side of the argument. On the eve of Russia’s invasion in 2022, he told former Trump aide Steve Bannon that “I gotta be honest with you, I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine one way or the other”.
Since then he has repeatedly called for the US to end all support to Ukraine, which he describes as a “corrupt” nation, adding that he didn’t want to help President Zelensky’s ministers to be able to “buy a bigger yacht”.
More recently Vance has called for a “negotiated” end to the conflict, which involves “significant territorial concessions from Ukraine”.
In April he also spoke out against plans for the US government to seize frozen Russian assets in order to provide further aid for Ukraine, saying that doing so would be “perilous” for the US.
It’s clear that on the issue of Europe, Trump’s pick for Vice President is now a major threat to our continental security.
UK ‘the First Islamist Nation to Get a Nuclear Weapon’
However, it’s not just on his attitudes to Ukraine where Vance should concern us, but on his attitude to the UK too.
Just last week Vance appeared at the National Conservatism conference in Washington where he took the opportunity, in his words, to “beat up on the UK”.
In extraordinarily Islamophobic comments, he told the audience that it may be “the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon… since Labour just took over.”
He added that he had recently been to London and found that it’s “not doing so good” because of immigration.
“If you look at, for example, the United Kingdom, if immigration, non stop, immigration was the way to create wealth and prosperity and lower home prices, then London would be doing great. And I got to tell you, I was in London last year, and it’s not doing so good.”
On this issue, he finds common cause with some senior Conservative politicians, including the former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who also spoke at the NatCon conference alongside Vance and has previously suggested that “Islamists” are now in “control” of Britain.
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A Global Threat
Vance also poses a threat to our global security. On the single biggest threat to the planet – climate change – Vance has switched from a position of accepting the science to becoming a denier.
“I’m skeptical of the idea that climate change is caused purely by man,” Vance said in 2022.
“It’s been changing, as others pointed out, it’s been changing for millennia.”
Trump’s running mate, who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry ince 2019, has also spoken out against what he describes as the “wanton harassment of fossil fuel companies” while calling for an and to renewable energy projects which he claims “will make us all poorer”.
Despite all of this, some UK commentators have suggested that Vance’s selection could actually be a good thing for the UK, due to the Foreign Secretary David Lammy having met with him in recent weeks.
“In terms of access, JD Vance is relatively good news for Labour and Britain” Tim Shipman of the Sunday Times Tweeted.
“David Lammy has made a lot of effort getting to know him and has seen him twice in recent weeks.”
Stefan Boscia of Politico agreed, reporting that Labour “will be very happy JD Vance was chosen by Trump as his VP pick” as it will give them “a direct route to Trump’s ear”.

Yet it’s clear from everything he has said, not just historically but in recent weeks, that this is not an ear that is unlikely to be open to the interests of either Europe, or of the UK.
Later this week Keir Starmer will host European leaders for a security-focused summit on Europe’s future.
The timing of this meeting is crucial, coming as it does at a time when Trump and his new running mate are now solid favourites to win back the presidency.
If that does come to pass then the UK’s long-held “special relationship” with the United States is likely to come under its toughest test in the modern era.
At a time when the US can no longer be relied upon to defend Europe’s interests, or to even maintain basic levels of respect for its allies, its clear that the UK’s number one priority should now be forging closer security ties with Europe instead.
With Putin knocking on the door in Eastern Europe, and both Trump and his pick for Vice President threatening to open it, it is time for the British government to now urgently look East.