Has Donald Trump just sunk the state pension triple lock?

Don’t worry, Trump hasn’t directly ordered PM Keir Starmer to scrap the hugely popular mechanism, which raises state pensions by inflation, earnings, or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

I doubt he knows it exists. Or cares. Yet he could be about to shoot it down anyway.

The triple lock could wind up collateral damage as Trump upends US foreign policy by cosying up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin while unforgivably branding Ukraine's heroic Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator and thief.

It's a nightmare for Europe and the UK. Including our state pensioners. If that sounds like a stretch, let me explain.

Trump is furious at Europe, including the UK. He reckons we’ve been freeloading off US defence spending for decades.

America has spent trillions protecting the West, running up vast debts and deficits in the process. And he’s had enough.

Worse, he has a point. The US-funded Marshall Plan rebuilt post-war Europe. In return, Europe has astonished the US with its ingratitude.

For decades, the anti-American left has sneered at American materialism and militarism. Some even raced to justify the September 11 terror attacks.

Now we'll pay. Literally.

Trump's defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has called for Europe to handle its own defence, accusing Europeans of turning “Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker”.

He expects the UK to step up too.

To date we've spent £12.8billion supporting Ukraine. The US has spend a staggering $350billion.

We’ll spend another £4.5billion this year, but that's still a fraction of US spend.

Under NATO rules, members must spend 2% of GDP on defence. Last year, 23 out of 32 did so, including the UK which spent 2.3%.

It's not enough though.

Labour's manifesto promises a path to 2.5%. That's not enough either. Plus there's no timeline.

With Putin menacing Europe and Trump demanding we stand up for ourselves, Starmer must set one. Then spend big. Especially if he’s serious about sending UK troops to patrol the Ukraine border.

There's a problem though. The UK economy is stuck like a Russian tank in Ukrainian mud.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has stripped the engine for parts, by taxing the private sector to spend more on the state.

Government spending now devours 44.5% of GDP.

What Reeves can’t raise in tax, she borrows. A staggering £300billion over the next financial year.

So where will Labour find the money for our military?

Starmer is profligate, blowing tens of billions on foreign aid and the Chagos Islands. The Labour left will fight any attack on benefits for the workless. The NHS is untouchable.

But with Trump pushing, he’ll have to cut somewhere.

Tough decisions are coming, and Labour could seize this moment to scrap a policy it has long viewed as an unsustainable burden, the state pension triple lock.

The Treasury would love that.

The Tories would oppose in public but applaud in private, because they want to see the back of the triple lock too. Especially if Labour gets the blame.

The only reason neither party has acted is that the political risk is huge. Pensioners vote in high numbers.

Starmer could exploit the current crisis by appealing to pensioner patriotism. They have plenty of that.

But with Labour's own policies stifling growth and squandering taxpayers money, tinkering with the triple lock will stretch that patriotism to the max.