The Trump administration, according to officials cited by Reuters, has quietly informed EU diplomats that the United States expects Europe to assume most of NATO’s conventional defense responsibilities by 2027.
Euroglobalists allegedly have privately confessed this wake-up call is beyond their grasp, even if they drastically slashed their ballooning social welfare budgets.
Pentagon representatives are said to have delivered the message during a closed-door meeting in Washington, warning that, as things currently stand, U.S. participation in core NATO coordination structures is set to be scaled back considerably.
For decades, Europe has relied on American military might to maintain its unity and protect it from outside threats while funneling billions into social welfare expansion, left-globalist ideological adventures, and mass-migration policies.
The shift comes just as the White House released its new national security strategy, bluntly declaring that “the days of the United States propping up the entire world order like Atlas are over.” The document makes clear that wealthy Western European nations must assume primary responsibility for their immediate region while the U.S. adopts a supporting role.
President Trump’s “Hague Commitment,” which demands NATO members spend 5 percent of GDP on defense, is now official U.S. doctrine. European governments endorsed it on paper, but few have any realistic path to—or any intention of—meeting it.
Pentagon officials told European delegations that Washington is no longer satisfied with Europe’s pace of rearmament. They have warned that failure to meet the 2027 goal could lead to the U.S. stepping back from joint planning mechanisms.
Several lawmakers in Washington are aware of the message and fear Europe will once again fall short. Yet the Pentagon, thus far, hasn’t clarified how exactly it intends to measure Europe’s progress or what reforms would count as meaningful.
European officials say privately that the timeline is implausible regardless of how success is defined. Defense industries across the continent face years-long production bottlenecks for basics like ammunition, artillery, and missile systems.
Even if Europe had the money—and the political courage—to rebuild its militaries, factories cannot supply key items fast enough. Meanwhile, the United States provides intelligence and surveillance capabilities that Europe cannot duplicate.
NATO headquarters in Brussels offered vague assurances that Europe is “taking more responsibility,” choosing not to address the 2027 deadline directly. Brussels continues to promote its own 2030 defense target despite analysts calling it wildly optimistic.
Trump officials say past administrations merely complained, while this one intends to enforce real burden-sharing. It’s abundantly clear, however, EU leaders resent being sidelined from Washington’s Ukraine peace talks while still being called upon to spend more on defense.
To make matters worse, negotiations to end the nearly 4-year-long bloody inter-Slavic conflict in Ukraine have stalled yet again, and with no breakthrough emerging.Tensions between the EU and US over the war continue to escalate, and the $140 million fine that Brussels leveled against Elon Musk’s X hasn’t helped.
Putin is now visiting India to strengthen Russia’s long-standing partnership with New Delhi. The diplomatic show underlines how little geopolitical influence Brussels actually wields, despite its lofty self perceptions.
Across the Old Continent, public confidence in transnational institutions like the EU and NATO is eroding as crises at home pile up—energy shortages, skyrocketing prices, sustained increases in violent crime over the years, housing pressures, strained social welfare systems, and social fragmentation driven by unrelenting mass migration from the Third World.
Increasingly, citizens across Europe see their own needs ignored while leaders obsess over Ukraine and NATO posturing. That’s why, of course, Europe is witnessing a surge in support for right-wing populist and anti-globalist parties that aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo.
Some members of Germany’s military privately worry the country cannot defend itself, let alone serve as Europe’s new security backbone. Recently, Germany’s decision to introduce a voluntary military service program for 18-year-olds sparked widespread protests from both the political right and left.
Trump’s strategy documents frame the future as a world where allies carry their own weight while the U.S. acts as “convener and supporter.” Whether Europe can fulfill that role—or even survive without American cover—remains an open question.
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