“I think the person who’s doing a review, we did a review when we came into government,” the British prime minister added. “So that makes good sense to me.”
The pair’s comments leave unanswered questions on whether the deal will go ahead exactly as planned, after the Pentagon review.
The original terms of the deal dictated that the U.S. would sell Australia three Virginia class submarines within the next decade, before the AUKUS submarines are built.
Some in Trump’s orbit believe America does not have the industrial capacity to cover the loss of those subs, particularly while U.S. submarine production has been waning.
Starmer told journalists en route to the G7 that “we, of course, looked into the issue when we came into government, we got Stephen [Lovegrove, former national security adviser] to look at it, and they’re doing their own review.”
This developing story is being updated.
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