Donald Trump could use a 10 per cent levy on weapons sales to Europe to fund US security guarantees for Ukraine, his treasury secretary has said.

Scott Bessent revealed that the president had increased the price of US military hardware being bought by European countries for Ukraine by 10 per cent.

“We are selling arms to Europeans, who are then selling them on to the Ukrainians, and President Trump is taking 10 per cent mark-up on the arms,” Mr Bessent told Fox News. “So maybe that 10 per cent will cover the cost of the air cover.”