Donald Trump says he hopes ‘major economic development transactions with Russia’ will take place

• Macron warns against ‘surrender’ in Ukraine

British prime minister Keir Starmer is set to cut the country’s aid budget to immediately hike defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, ahead of his visit to the White House on Thursday, according to The Sun.

The Sun is reporting that Starmer dismissed demands from “senior officers” to increase defence spending to as much as 2.65% of GDP, which the outlet estimates would cost an extra £10bn.