The Virginia-class USS North Dakota (SSN 784) submarine is seen during bravo sea trials in this U.S. Navy handout picture taken in the Atlantic Ocean August 18, 2013. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Handout
By Ellen Milligan
Jun 15, 2025 (Bloomberg) –UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he has no doubts that the Aukus defense pact with the US and Australia will continue despite President Donald Trump’s review of the initiative.
The Pentagon last week launched a review of the Joe Biden-era deal to develop nuclear-powered submarines with Australia and the UK, as part of Trump’s push for allies to take more responsibility for their own defense and ensure the US has enough warships of its own. The pact was signed in 2021 to counter China’s military expansion in the Indo-Pacific region.
“It’s a really important project, so I don’t have any doubt that this will progress,” Starmer told reporters on his way to the Group of Seven meeting in Canada, where he is expected to meet both Trump and Australian leader Anthony Albanese. “It’s not unusual for an incoming government to do a review of a project like that.”
The UK announced earlier this month that it would build as many as 12 new submarines as part of the partnership. If the US ends up abandoning the pact, it would deal a major blow to Australia and the UK. The Aukus deal represented the first time that the US agreed to share its highly sensitive sub technology since 1965.
© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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