Chicago – January 19, 2026
Europe’s push to loosen its dependence on American security has accelerated a year into Donald Trump’s second term, as faith in Washington’s reliability erodes among traditional allies.
European officials have been unnerved by a revised U.S. national security strategy that brands key European partners as weak, questions their immigration and free-speech policies, and warns of “civilizational erasure,” language seen in European capitals as incendiary and destabilizing.
In response, EU governments are investing more heavily in defense and debating how far they can build autonomous military capabilities without tearing apart NATO’s core guarantees.
The strategy document’s suggestion that some European states may lack the economic and military strength to remain dependable partners within two decades has sharpened calls in Brussels, Paris and Berlin for Europe to “act on its own terms” and reduce its structural reliance on U.S. power, even as Russian pressure and the war in Ukraine keep transatlantic cooperation indispensable.
