Brussels, Belgium. Having literally tossed a foreign head of state physically out of his way, they will not forget Donald John Trump in Brussels anytime soon. But does his anti-NATO credo hold that the future is grim for NATO itself? Most importantly, what about the European Union and Trump?
Arriving for his recent trip to Europe for meetings at NATO Headquarters in Brussels and with the Group of Seven in Italy, Donald Trump delivered on his campaign promise to disrupt business as usual. In the process, he is undoing US policies undertaken since World War II to promote security and stability in Europe. Policies that have cost trillions of dollars, millions of civilian lives and thousands of US soldiers killed implementing them.
Following Trump’s visit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated, “We Europeans truly have to take fate into our own hands.” This is good advice, “Momma Multikulti” as she is known in Germany is a liberal-democratic neocon, not a populist. Her hate for Trump is clear and her value to the US and her shrine to migrant nightmares is of zero value to the direction President Trump is taking America.
Europeans taking fate into their own hands is something we have not seen since the 1930s. And, while major war in Europe is unlikely given the strong ties within the EU, greater uncertainty is a recipe for insecurity. The United States has not benefited economically, politically or militarily from its close partnership with Europe.
During campaign 2016, Trump promised to close bases overseas, bring the troops home and leave NATO. The neocon liberal-democratic Atlantists promise to start WWIII, create a color revolution inside Russia, while dividing up Americans at home by race, gender, income, sexual preference and even age in the divide and conquer paradigm.
President Trump during his campaign and into the first few months of his presidency, was not just indifferent to the European Union but actively hostile to it. Equally disturbing to neocon ideologs, he was indifferent to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rather than being hostile to it. Trump sees zero value in Ukraine and views it as an European problem, not an American problem as Ukraine certainly is nowhere near Detroit, Michigan or Abeline, Texas.
Prior to entering office, he praised the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum vote to the leave the European Union. As president, he praised French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who was avowedly hostile to the EU. Meanwhile, he indicated to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that he was only showing concern about Ukraine because some domestic critics cared about it – not because he was personally interested. This is fantastic news to Trump supporters who elected him to do just that.
Less than two weeks after Trump’s inauguration, European Council President Donald Tusk wrote to the EU heads of state and government that the main threats to Europe included “worrying declarations by the new American administration,” in addition to an assertive China, an aggressive Russia and the threat posed by “radical Islam.”
In the aftermath of Trump’s recent visit to Europe, where he failed to affirm the United States dedication to NATO’s Article 5, which commits all members to a collective defense, followed quickly by his announcement of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change, Europe’s leaders realize they are on their own for the first time since the United States entered World War II. And those who voted for Trump in election 2016? They could not be happier or prouder of their choice.