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Donald Trump promised, of course, in the 2024 presidential election to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours, then by Easter, then by the summer and then at some unspecified points in the future
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This week, in Amang, repeatedly admiring the physique of some of his own congressional candidates, repeatedly calling a Muslim Democrat Mohammed when his name is Abdul and claiming to have resurrected Christopher Columbus, the most important real question in American politics, indeed global politics
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is whether Donald Trump is in fact making it harder for Ukraine to survive the war at all
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Ukraine's military satellite service has been restricted via the Starlink network, hampering their drones used to intercept Russian attacks
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Reuters have reported the order came from inside the White House. President Trump denies responsibility
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The Telegraph, meanwhile, is reporting it was all Elon Musk's idea. Now, we should be precise about what remains disputed
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But what is beyond dispute are that these systems help Ukraine defend themselves against an invading army
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Restricting them has consequences. It is a price paid in blood. Meanwhile, Trump has eased pressure on Russian oil sales and suggested that Ukraine needs a different president altogether
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Think about that message. The country being invaded should change its leader
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The country doing the invading gets economic relief. Trump's shtick has always been the art of the deal
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What kind of deal is that from the great negotiator? What incentive does that give to Putin to compromise
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If he can keep fighting while the relationship between Ukraine and America deteriorates
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why wouldn't he just wait for the next concession, for the next prize gifted in the seal of the president
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There's a warning here for us in Europe as well. We talk about sovereignty defense spending standing on our own two feet projecting power But Ukraine battlefield communications still depend on American decisions and Elon Musk tech Their fate in the hands of some of the most bizarre people on earth
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Europe can't keep calling itself a great power, if indeed it can at all, if it needs permission
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to defend itself. And that, let's be blunt, is the situation we're in, entering 18 months
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where half of the continent goes to the polls. Do you think it's time to finally look at unfreezing European Russian assets
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to help fund the Ukrainian war effort? So we argued for this for a long time
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was to make sure we could use the frozen Russian assets to be able to support Ukraine
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So that's been a longstanding UK policy. There have been different approaches to this
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We wanted to work with European colleagues on how to do this
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So those discussions are going to come to you. Do you have an idea whose time do you think has finally come? I know the British government has been pushing it for a long time
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We've been pushing it for a long time. And so, look, I know those discussions continue to take place
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You need to do it alongside other countries for it to have maximum impact. So I'm sure those discussions are continuing
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But, you know, we want to do everything we can to keep supporting Ukraine. President Zelensky has said that the speed caps on Starlink operations in Ukraine remain in place
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which are hindering efforts to counter Russian jet-powered drones. Is that the British government's understanding too
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So you'll appreciate I'm not currently the foreign secretary and nor can I comment on intelligence issues either
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So I would leave that most up to date. I leave that most up to date assessment to them
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But let me make the broader point, which is we obviously deeply concerned you've seen what's happened with Putin is increasingly targeting civilians
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I think that is a reflection of Putin's desperation that he is doing so
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and the fact that actually he has failed in many areas on the battlefront and is doing that
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However, that means we have to keep standing with the Ukrainian people who are facing these continued..
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But we know who isn't the health secretary, don't we? Because Ukraine security is our security But we know who isn standing with the Ukrainian people don we health secretary And that the White House It Donald Trump I mean it has been reported that this slowdown in Starlink operations which let just remind people this is the
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thing which is protecting Ukrainian civilians in shooting down these Russian jets, came
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at the White House's request. Does Donald Trump have blood on his hands? So I can't
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comment on the detail on the Starlink and you wouldn't expect me to do so. I think there
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It's a wider issue about we want to keep going further in terms of the sanctions on Russia
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Which Trump has also blocked this week. Yeah, that is a different approach to some of the things we've seen from the US
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But we've also seen the US approach has evolved over time. And actually, as part of the NATO alliance, as part of the NATO alliance
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I think we've got still strong support continuing for Ukraine. It's really important that that continues
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So we're going to keep working. You've seen the prime minister hosting President Zelensky
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You've spoken to Trump. You've spoken to Marco Rubio in the past. We're going to keep working in order to be able to support Ukraine and to bring the NATO alliance together to do so
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Why would they hinder the Ukrainians from protecting their own population? I mean, do you understand it? You've seen them work up close
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I think listeners and viewers will be deeply, deeply bewildered as to why an American administration
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OK, they're not a normal American administration, but why would they actively hinder the Ukrainians from protecting their own people
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So we've seen sort of different positions and different discussions take place
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What I've also seen is I've seen a lot of support at different stages from the US for Ukrainian capabilities, including technology, including support for their armed forces and so on
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So we've seen that through the years. I think that's been really important. We saw President Zelensky furious this week with Trump administration
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Do you understand his anger? I think President Zelensky has shown huge leadership throughout this crisis
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And the strength that he's shown, the strength that the Ukrainian people have shown is immense
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We've had a Ukrainian family staying with us since the beginning of the conflict, some of whom have gone back
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So I feel this personally as well the importance of us continuing to support the Ukrainian people And the role that the UK has to play in this is to try and pull the whole of the NATO alliance together to keep supporting Ukraine
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Well, to reconnect your, just finally, to reconnect your old job with a new one
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we've seen this week with Starlink potentially the vulnerability when you hand over some of your national resilience
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and capacities to a foreign country, foreign companies. When you see stories like that
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Does it make you reconsider handing over some of our critical national infrastructure to companies with close ties to Trump
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I'm thinking in particular of perhaps your big call to make on whether to exercise the NHS's break clause with Palantir, the controversial US company
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Have this week's events given you calls to reconsider Palantir's role in the NHS
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So you'll appreciate where there are contract processes. Those have a proper process and always are followed
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And I'm not going to comment on any individual contract. Let me just make a broader point about resilience and capability
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It is right that we do more to strengthen UK resilience, UK capability, including some of the issues around AI, where we want to develop UK capabilities
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Palantir is a US company. Are you comfortable with Palantir's role in NHS? I'm going to finish this point
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It's really important that we expand our AI capability, including here in the UK
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And we are very well placed to do so. So, of course, we have always worked with other countries
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Of course, we have always developed capabilities with other countries. But we also recognise the importance of supporting that British sovereign strength
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And that's something both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have highlighted
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I am just going to say to you, with contracts, you don't cut across normal processes
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It's not just about contracts. I just wonder what you think of Palantir as a company. It's a very controversial company
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Labour Party members at Labour Party conference were voting on whether to take Palantir out of the NHS
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I just think as a British Labour health secretary, you might have a view about this company
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That is a nice try. Larissa's a way of finding a different way to ask me another question
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As a health secretary, I have a responsibility on a contracting process to make sure that it goes through the proper processes
