American-Europe Relations: A Romantic Streak in the Trump Era

There is something surprising about American-European relations. Donald Trump has, more than any other recent president, emphasized the transactional nature of politics, even international politics. Sure, presidents going back to Eisenhower and Obama have complained to Europe about its free-riding on the United States security umbrella, and prophesying that one day the American people would no longer put up with it. But Trump has been by far the most direct. Either up your defense spending to an acceptable level of GDP, he warned, or he would “encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want.”

And yet, underneath the Trump administration there is a kind of romantic streak to American relations with Europe. Oddly, although America is clearly the stronger partner, it is the one more aggressively playing the game. It began at last year’s Munich Security Conference with a speech from JD Vance that sounded a little like an ultimatum. He asked the conference participants to reflect on what they are fighting for. And then, in the parlance of pickup artists, he “negged” them. He pointed out the ways in which Europe is falling short on democratic norms. People were being arrested for praying in the United Kingdom. An election was canceled in Romania on a flimsy pretext. Criticism of immigration was being suppressed.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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There is something surprising about American-European relations. Donald Trump has, more than any other recent president, emphasized the transactional nature of politics, even international politics. Sure, presidents going back to Eisenhower and Obama have complained to Europe about its free-riding on the United States security umbrella, and prophesying that one day the American people would no longer put up with it. But Trump has been by far the most direct. Either up your defense spending to an acceptable level of GDP, he warned, or he would “encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they want.”

And yet, underneath the Trump administration there is a kind of romantic streak to American relations with Europe. Oddly, although America is clearly the stronger partner, it is the one more aggressively playing the game. It began at last year’s Munich Security Conference with a speech from JD Vance that sounded a little like an ultimatum. He asked the conference participants to reflect on what they are fighting for. And then, in the parlance of pickup artists, he “negged” them. He pointed out the ways in which Europe is falling short on democratic norms. People were being arrested for praying in the United Kingdom. An election was canceled in Romania on a flimsy pretext. Criticism of immigration was being suppressed.