The Donald Trump paradigm shift is officially here.
In the past 48 hours, the U.S. president’s defense chief Pete Hegseth poured cold water on Ukraine’s hopes for a favorable peace deal and hinted that the U.S. could reduce its military presence in Europe — while Trump himself was having a chat with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about Kyiv’s future.
Hegseth’s reiteration Thursday that the White House sees the “ambitions of the Communist Chinese” as a primary global threat, thus forcing a drawdown of American security involvement in Europe, was part of the American-led shake-up animating NATO allies during a meeting of defense ministers in Brussels.
While European countries agreed they need to do more for their own security — including by spending lots more money on their militaries — much of the public rhetoric in Brussels seemed geared toward trying to keep the belligerent Trump and Hegseth onside.
There was a muted response to the U.S.’s initially bullish statements, with NATO defense ministers using words and phrases like “convergence,” “the U.S. is right” and “family.” The timid public reactions to Washington’s muscular tone-setting just served to underscore that a clear European playbook to deal with the Trump-led geopolitical order has not emerged.
“A majority of European countries do not want to lose face and are still not thinking in terms of the new Trump framework,” said a European official, adding that it probably is a “mix of fear and denial” regarding the real-world impact of the new U.S. stance on both Ukraine — and Europe’s security as a whole.
Keep America interested
France — one of NATO’s three nuclear powers alongside the U.K. and the U.S. — has recently argued that Europeans need to prepare for a scenario where the U.S. pulls military assets and personnel from the continent.
But speaking to reporters after the two-day meeting in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte tried to play down worries that the U.S. could downsize its military presence in Europe.
“Pete Hegseth said in Stuttgart that there are no plans to reduce troop levels. At the same time, the U.S. [has been] quite irritated for a long time … that they’re spending more than NATO’s European allies and Canada, so we need to do more,” he said.
Asked about American troops in Europe, Hegseth told reporters Thursday that “we are not abandoning our allies in Europe.”
“No decision has been made on troop levels [in Europe], that’s a discussion to be had by the commander in chief,” he added, referring to a planned review of global U.S. military deployment.
“But there is a recognition that the ambitions of the Communist Chinese are a threat to free people everywhere,” he added, “it makes a lot of sense … to use our comparative advantages: European countries spending here in defense of this continent against an aggressor on this continent.”
Hegseth said the U.S. remained committed to NATO’s mutual assistance clause, known as Article 5, but added allies should abide by the lesser-discussed Article 3, which states that members must be “sufficiently prepared” to face a crisis.
Nations bordering Russia, who are the most vulnerable to a future attack from Moscow, remain hopeful that the U.S. will support them if Putin does decide to go after NATO territory.
“We have to take into account that this is a family,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told reporters ahead of Thursday’s meeting, referring to the NATO alliance.
“My message will be very clear that in this family, we are standing shoulder to shoulder … protecting and defending ourselves,” he said, highlighting that Estonian troops are currently in Iraq alongside Americans.
As Hegseth said that deterring China is now Washington’s top priority, Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė made the argument that the “Indo-Pacific and Europe are connected very directly. China and Russia are going to coordinate their actions.”
‘Appeasement’
After Trump’s call with Putin left European allies flummoxed — and NATO ministers insisted Ukraine should be included in any peace talks — Rutte was keen to push back against the idea that Europeans are being sidelined.
“We always knew a call would happen soon and teams are consulting each other,” he told reporters. He will also meet with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and America’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg at the Munich Security Conference later this week.
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas struck a much harsher tone, denouncing Trump’s call with Putin as “appeasement” and saying any deal on Ukraine’s future that is arranged without European involvement will be a nonstarter.
But it appears that Europeans were, in fact, sidelined. For example, Trump seemingly did not tell German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about his plans.
According to an EU official, who like the official above was also granted anonymity to freely discuss the sensitive topic, this week just shows to what extent the U.S. now disregards Europe.
“The reason why European leaders are so hurt over Trump is that the U.S. has stopped pretending to see Europe as a meaningful player on geopolitical affairs,” the official said.
“For decades, Europeans, as good USA vassals, required a certain decorum in how they were treated, at least publicly, as if it was an article of the feudal contract,” the official added.
“Trump is not buying that and brought those rituals to an end. It is a rude awakening to the cruel world of today.”
Paul McLeary and Elena Giordano contributed to this report.
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