Relations in crisis What does Trump's new security strategy mean for Europe?
The new US security strategy is causing tensions in transatlantic relations. Meanwhile, political scientists are warning of major challenges for Europe and NATO.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The new US security strategy is causing tensions in transatlantic relations.
- The strategy paper paints a gloomy picture of Europe's future and also serves right-wing extremist narratives of the "great exchange".
- EU politicians reject the criticism. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, meanwhile, is trying to calm the waves.
Is Europe on the brink of decline? This is the impression you get when you read the US national security strategy published on Friday. It sets out President Donald Trump's America First agenda in harsh language towards allies.
It is no wonder that the document is causing tensions in transatlantic relations with its gloomy criticism of Europe. The new strategy was immediately met with harsh criticism from European countries. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in response to the critical statements on freedom of expression that he did "not believe that anyone needs to give us advice on this". Ursula von der Leyen's EU Commission also rejected the accusations against the EU.
While the attacks from Washington continued, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas tried to calm the waves. "The USA is still our biggest ally," said Kallas at the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference in Qatar. Despite differences on various issues between the US and Europe, the "general principle" still applies: "We are the closest allies and should stick together."
New attacks from the USA
However, the attacks against Europe from the USA have not stopped. Following the EU's decision to impose a multi-million fine on Elon Musk's online platform X for lack of transparency, the US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, once again voiced his criticism. In an X post, he complained about the dual role of countries that are members of both NATO and the EU.
If these states had their "Nato hat" on, they were insisting on the importance of transatlantic cooperation, Landau wrote. However, with their "EU hat" on, they were simultaneously pursuing political agendas "that often run completely counter to the interests and security of the USA". Examples he cited included "censorship, economic suicide/climate fanaticism, open borders". The US can no longer ignore this contradiction, Landau continued. "We cannot pretend to be partners while these nations allow the unelected, undemocratic and unrepresentative bureaucracy of the EU in Brussels to pursue a policy of civilizational suicide."
Landau had attended the meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels last week as a substitute for US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. A valid reason for Rubio's withdrawal was not initially given. It is highly unusual for a US Secretary of State not to attend a formal NATO foreign ministers' meeting in person.
Paper takes up narrative of "great exchange"
In the strategy paper, the White House conjures up a "civilizational extinction" of Europe. If current developments continue, the continent "will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less", it says. "It is more than plausible that within a few decades at the latest, certain NATO members will become predominantly non-European," it says elsewhere.
The Trump government is thus taking up the assertion of right-wing extremists that migration is leading to a "large-scale exchange" of the European population, which can only be countered by so-called remigration, i.e. a strict border and deportation policy.
The USA emphasized in its strategy: "The era of mass immigration must end." Trump has declared war on irregular migration to the USA and is pursuing a deportation policy that, according to critics, disregards fundamental rights.
"Censorship" and "oppression"
In its paper, the US government also denounces alleged "censorship of freedom of expression and suppression of political opposition" in Europe. Trump's Vice President JD Vance had already put forward similar arguments at the Munich Security Conference in February. The background to this is that the US government is supporting right-wing populists such as the AfD in order to give Trump's Maga movement (Make America Great Again) greater influence in Europe.
No NATO expansion and closeness to Russia
The paper from the White House also rejects NATO expansion. In doing so, Washington has once again dashed Ukraine's hopes of joining the transatlantic alliance.
At the same time, the strategy is an indication that the Trump administration has moved closer to Russia, which has been resisting NATO's eastward expansion for years. The administration of Trump's predecessor Joe Biden still wanted to "limit" Russia in its claim to power, as the Washington Post points out - no such formulations can be found in the new paper.
What experts say
Political scientist Evan Feigenbaum from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who worked for the government under President George W. Bush, calls the new strategy extremely "conflict-prone". It "clearly pits the United States against the entire European project".
Kristine Berzina from the German Marshall Fund takes a similar view. The Trump administration is making it clear "that it wants to see a completely different Europe", she told the AFP news agency. By questioning the legitimacy of European governments, the USA is attacking many European allies head-on.
