The foreign secretary talks up UK-US relations - but clear divisions with the incoming president remain.

The foreign secretary has used his first major speech of 2025 to go after the Putin’s aggression in tearing up the world order and back Trump’s demands for significant increases in defence spending

Foreign secretary David Lammy has played down US president-elect Donald Trump's threats to acquire Greenland. The Arctic territory is controlled by Denmark but is also home to a US military base and also has oil drilling and mineral mining potential.

But the Foreign Secretary played down the prospect of a conflict between Trump’s America and Europe over Greenland

The intensity of US President-elect Donald Trump’s rhetoric and his unpredictability can be “destabilising”, Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. Mr Lammy also criticised Elon Musk, a key Trump ally, following reports the tech billionaire has been involved in private talks to oust Sir Keir Starmer.

David Lammy has refused to condemn Donald Trump for suggesting he could use military force to take over Greenland. The president-elect made the warning in a rambling press conference earlier this week in which he also said America could seize control of the Panama Canal.

Mr Lammy told the BBC that he believes Mr Trump’s comments earlier in the week about Greenland come from his concerns about US economic security.

It’s not going to happen’ - Foreign secretary also hit back at Trump’s demands that the UK double its defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP

With Russia on the march and the end of post-Cold War peace, David Lammy has argued that Europe’s defence spending must rise. The foreign secretary said for the UK to be “taken seriously… we must put our money where our mouth is” in his first major speech of 2025.

The Foreign Secretary has called on the incoming US president to say how he will pay for a massive increase in defence spending.

Donald Trump's incoming counter-terrorism chief demanded the repatriation of British members of so-called IS being held in Syrian prison camps.

The US president-elect has said he cannot assure the world he would not use military force to gain Greenland and the Panama Canal.