Donald Trump hands over control of THREE Nato bases with Britain set for major defence boost

President Donald Trump has handed control of three Nato bases to European countries.

Britain will take control of the Atlantic Command headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia.

Meanwhile, Italy has been given responsibility for the southern flank at its Naples base with Germany and Poland overseeing Joint Force Command Brunssum in the Netherlands on a rotating basis.

Nato insiders have suggested the move was President Trump's way of encouraging European countries to shoulder more responsibility, rather than the US distancing itself from the alliance.

A Nato official told The Telegraph: "Allies have agreed on a new distribution of senior officer responsibility across the Nato Command Structure in which European allies, including Nato’s newest members, will play a more prominent role in the alliance’s military leadership."

Under the new reforms, the US will assume control over Nato’s maritime forces, based at Northwood in the UK. This means American officers will oversee the alliance’s main air, land and sea commands and retain the top position of Supreme Allied Commander Europe.

The US Nato ambassador Matthew Whitaker insisted President Trump was seeking to strengthen rather than "dismantle" the alliance through the new reforms.

He said: "We’re trying to make Nato stronger, not to withdraw or reject Nato, but make it work like it was intended, as an alliance of 32 strong and capable allies."

Following the fallout surrounding a potential US acquisition of Greenland, European leaders have been quick to step up their support for defence spending.

French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that the European Union should not be lulled into a false sense of security, as he suggested the bloc's current defence strategy "is not working."

He said: "When there’s a clear act of aggression, I think what we should do isn’t bow down or try to reach a settlement. We’ve tried that strategy for months. It’s not working."

President Macron said the Trump administration was being "openly anti‑European" and seeking the EU’s "dismemberment".

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Defence Secretary John Healey is set to announce the number of British troops in Norway will double as part of efforts to bolster defences in the High North against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

Mr Healey will also commit UK forces to Nato’s Arctic Sentry mission, the alliance’s initiative to improve security in the region to help address President Trump’s concerns over Greenland.

The promises to bolster the defence of the Arctic region came as former head of the armed forces General Sir Nick Carter called for greater European co-operation to deter Russia and support Ukraine.

The Defence Secretary also confirmed that UK Armed Forces will play their part in Nato’s Arctic Sentry mission.

The Defence Secretary said: "Demands on defence are rising, and Russia poses the greatest threat to Arctic and High North security that we have seen since the Cold War.

"We see Putin rapidly re-establishing military presence in the region, including reopening old Cold War bases.

"The UK is stepping up to protect the Arctic and High North, doubling the number of troops we have in Norway and scaling up joint exercises with Nato allies."

Some 1,500 commandos will be deployed to Norway in March for Nato’s Exercise Cold Response.

In September, the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force will be carrying out major military exercises in the region, with air, land and naval forces training to protect critical infrastructure from attacks and sabotage.

The risk of Russian sabotage activity was highlighted by Sir Nick in a paper for the Tony Blair Institute.

He said: "We’re all aware that Russia and the GRU at the tip of the spear, that’s Russia’s intelligence services, are waging a campaign of sabotage and subversion in Europe, including incursions into our Nato airspace.

"Now we’ve got to be able to impose credible costs on this campaign, because otherwise it will continue."