Europe must focus on defending itself, not on keeping Trump happy
fanny.pollet@i…
Thu, 06/11/2026 – 11:35
5 minutes
The debate about how Europeans organise their defence has been going on for years and often feels like a repetition of moves. That is, until Donald Trump came along and cast doubt on the US commitment to NATO’s Article 5, and accused European allies of freeloading. At NATO, they claim that last year’s summit in The Hague solved the problem, because Europeans agreed to spend 5% of their own GDP on defence. But the cracks in the transatlantic relationship are real. The mistrust is equally so. Sometimes public opinion sees it more clearly than the elite: 73% of EU citizens now say that Europe ‘must go its own way’.
Trump’s war against Iran has made this discussion more urgent. Europeans may have a neat slogan – ‘This is not our war’ – but it *is* our problem. The risk of energy shortages is growing, economic growth is levelling off, and interest rates will likely have to rise. …read more
