Trump warning: Shape up or Americans will ship out
Category: News & Politics
Via: bob-nelson • 11 hours ago • 14 commentsBy: GUEST EDITORIAL (Wall Street Journal in the Yuma Sun)
The Wall Street Journal on Trump and our European allies
The Yuma Sun is a very good local newspaper. It has lots of local news.
It walks the tightrope of a social conscience in a MAGA market.
Well done!
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
European allies knew their relationship with the second Trump administration would be challenging. Even so, the shocks they've received from Washington in recent days constitute a crisis. The warning, more or less: Shape up or the Americans are shipping out.
Start with the Ukraine war. This is the largest military conflict on European soil since 1945, and the continent's leaders recognize the stakes for their security. But Mr. Trump's message is that the U.S. doesn't care what Europeans think about how the war should be resolved.
Mr. Trump spoke on the phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin last week about ending the conflict, a development that caught Europe by surprise. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced, also without consulting allies, that Ukraine shouldn't expect to regain territory lost during Russia's first incursion in 2014. Asked at a conference whether Europeans would play a role in peace talks, Mr. Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg said "that is not going to happen."
These are slaps to North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies whose security is threatened by Mr. Putin's imperial ambitions and that have contributed cash and equipment toward Ukraine's defense. The insults also recognize reality, however. Too many European governments, especially the largest, have been too slow and stingy in providing support to Kyiv either for lack of strategic conviction or decades of spending on welfare instead of their militaries.
The Trump administration appears unwilling to let Europe leverage its noisy but dilatory contributions to the Ukraine war into a seat at the negotiating table. Much of Mr. Trump's approach to peace talks is all wrong for America's own interests, including Mr. Hegseth's hint that the U.S. could agree with the Kremlin to reduce American troop numbers in Europe. But Europe has chosen to put itself in the position of taking others' decisions about its security rather than making its own.
Which is what we take to be Team Trump's bigger theme in Europe last week. At a summit on artificial intelligence in Paris, Vice President JD Vance offered a bracing warning that Europe will leave itself behind in the next industrial revolution if it overregulates today's frontier technology. Europeans aren't accustomed to being told so bluntly by U.S. officials that Europe is impoverishing itself with its dirigisme, but someone had to say it.
Then in Munich Mr. Vance delivered a more surprising rebuke when he asserted that Europe's biggest security danger is "the threat from within." He cited a political culture that aggressively tamps down on dissent, often in the name of combating "misinformation" or other ills such as racism, as mainstream politicians worry their power will be eroded by insurgent parties of the right and left. The subtext is that if Europeans expect Americans to defend Europe for the sake of democracy, Europe needs to be recognizably democratic.
These interventions have triggered howls across Europe, sometimes with reason: German politicians have cause to be aggrieved at Mr. Vance for expressing veiled sympathy for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party a week before an election. It was a mistake, since he undermined center-right Friedrich Merz, who's likely to be the next chancellor and is much more pro-American than the AfD.
Yet in general Europeans are glumly conceding the Trump team has a point, at least on Ukraine and defense matters. French President Emmanuel Macron is convening an emergency summit of key European leaders this week to discuss their approach to Ukraine talks. They should heed Mr. Kellogg's exhortation that the way for Europe to play a role is "coming up with concrete proposals, ideas, ramp up (defense) spending."
On the latter point, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said this weekend he'd overrule his own chancellor of the exchequer and insist defense spending rise to 2.5% of GDP, rather than the Treasury's preferred 2.3% goal. Yet military leaders think more is needed, and even this goal has no deadline and will involve messy politicking in an economy that's barely growing and when the government finances are a mess. Hence Mr. Vance's exhortations about the importance of economic growth.
A U.S. withdrawal from Europe would be a historic mistake, and damaging to American interests. But after last week Europe is on notice that Mr. Trump may be willing to leave the continent to its own devices. Europe needs to act accordingly, and an economic revival and greater investment in its own defense are essential and urgent.
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I went to Europe in the early 1970s, to learn some languages and do the tourist thing. Things happened... such as meeting a girl, getting married, having a kid... so I ended up staying somewhat longer than foreseen.
As an American living in Europe, I've of course paid attention to transatlantic relations. In politics, one must always distinguish between bluster and policy. Over this half-century, America has said one thing while behaving quite differently. But until Donald Trump, America has been quite consistent: saying that Europe must raise defense spending, while actually doing nothing to provoke that action.
The fact is that the US has preferred to keep Europe from getting uppity, by the simple expedient of letting the Old Continent get away with lower defense budgets. Basically, America paid to keep leadership.
Donald Trump probably never understood... but he has exploded US policy that has stood since WWII.
Seems like Europe is about to find out what it's like to quit leeching off the US and defend themselves. Something they haven't done since the '40s. Despite all the "outrage" from the left, this is a good thing.
If the US keeps giving aid, then the war is just going to continue. If Trump completely cuts off aid, Russia will swallow up Ukraine and Trump will get the blame. That is the paradox for Trump and that is why Trump is trying to make Zelensky understand that Ukraine is not winning the war, they are in fact losing the war, and now you want me to keep funding this losing cause?
Evidently Trump feels the ultimate way out is to convince Putin that he gets to keep what he stole, NATO is off the table, if only Putin will get out of Ukraine and go back to where he was 3 years ago, the Donbas will be demilitarized, and sanctions will be lifted.
Those are all the cards to be played. I doubt it can work.
We need to scale our support back to the equivalent of the average of support coming from Europe. This would force Europe and Ukraine to step up and take part in their own preservation / protection and force them, and Ukraine, to stop coming to the US with their hands out.
We need to stop being the clean up crew when other countries shit the bed.
The first secretary-general of NATO, Lord Ismay, once said the Western defense alliance was created "to keep the Americans in, the Russians out and the Germans down".
An EU agenda: keeping British in, Russians out, Germans down | Reuters
Yes Sir.
Someone (Trump) finally had the courage to tell the Europeans that what happened to Ukraine is essentially the result of their indifference to providing for the common defense and welfare of Western Europe, which would include Ukraine. Zelensky has no choice but to eventually capitulate and go for the best deal he can get, and that the primary source of aid and support should come from Europe.
Pathetically spamming your own article isn't going to change anybody's mind.
Since you folks obviously didn't read my Comment before making yours, I thought a repeat would be good for you.
Did you read it this time?
Sorry when I see it spammed over several other comments it gets treated as it is - spam.