Why Europe’s Security Must Be A Key US Aim – Analysis
By Luke Coffey
Last week was a busy one in US-European relations. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth made his first official visit to Europe for a NATO meeting in Brussels, Vice President J.D. Vance also made his first visit to deliver a speech on artificial intelligence in Paris — and Americans woke up to the surprising news that an American long held by Russia had been released as part of a prisoner exchange.
President Donald Trump also held lengthy phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky to try to jump start Ukraine peace talks between the two countries. These events all led up to the annual Munich Security Conference, beginning on Friday, at which Europeans, Americans, and many from all corners of the world were eager to hear what Vance had to say about the future of US-European ties, NATO, and relations with Russia.
This busy week will set the tone for the new Trump administration and its approach to the continent. As Trump develops that approach, he should look back at his first term as a blueprint.
What many in Europe remember about that first term was repeated by Vance in his speech in Munich on Friday — criticism of European allies for their inadequate funding of defense and relying too much on the American military presence on the continent. However, the actual policy outcomes differed greatly from the rhetoric. Despite the attacks on Europeans for not spending enough, Trump’s first term in the White House delivered an increase of more than 40 percent in American spending on European defense compared with the Obama administration. By the time Trump left in 2021, there were more US forces in Europe and more training exercises across the continent than before he took office.
Trump also took significant steps to strengthen Europe’s energy security and stability. He ramped up US exports of LNG, reducing European reliance on Russian gas. He also imposed sanctions Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which was undermining Europe’s energy security. Trump was the first to provide advanced anti-tank weapons to Ukraine after the Obama administration repeatedly failed to do so. He also oversaw the largest expulsion in history of Russian spies and diplomats from US territory, and closed down two Russian consulates in Seattle and San Francisco along with two trade mission annexes in Washington and New York.
These were not the actions of someone indifferent to Europe or weak on Russia. If anything, they demonstrated a strong commitment to European security and US leadership in transatlantic affairs. It is this kind of strategic thinking that should inform the second Trump administration’s approach.
One significant change since Trump’s first term is the growing bipartisan awareness of the challenges China poses to US national interests. As a result, many in the Trump administration believe that East Asia should be the focus for national security. However, as a global power in what Secretary of State Marco Rubio describes as a multipolar world, the US cannot afford to focus on one region at the expense of others. Regardless of discussions about reprioritizing Asia and drawing down US forces in Europe and the Middle East, geopolitical reality makes such a shift nearly impossible.
Europe remains crucial to the well-being of the American economy. Together, North America and Europe account for about half of the world’s GDP. Two-thirds of all foreign investment into the US is from Europe. Additionally, Europe is collectively America’s largest export market, with 48 out of 50 US states exporting more to the continent than they do to China. Trump, with his background in business, understands better than anyone that when an American product is exported, that secures an American job. Right now, Russia is actively trying to undermine stability in Europe, which threatens the economic prosperity that has long benefited both the US and the American worker. Essentially, America’s military presence in Europe, along with NATO, is the primary security guarantor of America’s largest export market and source of foreign investment. The idea that America could simply walk away from Europe is not only naive but also geopolitically dangerous.
If the world is reemerging as a multipolar system, as Rubio suggests, then many of these geopolitical poles are converging in eastern Ukraine, where Russia continues its aggression with the assistance of North Korean soldiers and Iranian drones. The security of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia is interconnected, whether policymakers like it or not.
As Trump’s second administration unfolds, maintaining strong transatlantic relations will be essential to ensuring that the US remains an influential player on the world stage. While there will undoubtedly be discussions about shifting priorities, the geopolitical realities of the modern world make it clear that Europe must remain a key pillar of US foreign policy. The administration should take a strategic, long-term approach to strengthening NATO, supporting Ukraine, and maintaining US leadership in European security.
Ultimately, the Trump administration’s approach to Europe should not be defined by campaign rhetoric but by practical policy measures that align with US strategic interests. As history has shown, a strong and engaged America in Europe is not just beneficial for the continent — it is also vital for US national security and economic prosperity.
• Luke Coffey is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. X: @LukeDCoffey
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Trump will look the other way on Russia in eastern Ukraine.
The onus lies on the people in eastern Ukraine, under international law, for exercising the right of self-determination.
It’s more important that there are local government elections. That will help determine who leads regional governments. It does not matter which centre, Moscow or Kyiv, rules eastern Ukraine.
Trump, who sees the US as Asia-Pacific power, left out Europe and NATO from the global security framework which groups together India, China, Russia and Japan in that order of importance after America.
Trump sees no reason for the war mongering UK-US Special Relationship in cahoots with the US Military Industrial Academic Complex following the script written by the international media.
We can recall that Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange alleged, not so long ago, that all the wars in the last 50 years were created by great media lies.
The US-led QUAD, covering the Indo-Pacific War Theatre, has India, Japan and Australia in that order of importance.
India will not be party for illegalities like pitting one country against another. New Delhi has said that the Indian Ocean was off limits for the QUAD. India’s blue water navy monitors the northern reaches of the Straits of Malacca and has battleship in Vietnamese waters since 2011.
There are synergies in the China-India-America relationships.