A US withdrawal from NATO could Make Europe Great Again

On May 1, the Trump administration announced it would withdraw 5,000 troops now stationed in Germany, reducing the U.S. footprint with a key NATO ally. This decision, which came soon after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the war in Iran, is just the latest move in President Trump’s strategy of weakening his country’s commitment to NATO.

A senior defense official said in comments to The Washington Post that it is intended to promote “a Europe-led NATO.” The troop withdrawal from Germany follows comments Trump made last month when he told a British newspaper, The Telegraph, “I am strongly considering pulling out of NATO.”

Trump labeled the alliance “a paper tiger” and added, “Putin knows that too, by the way.”

Trump also communicated his displeasure during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on April 8. Politico quoted a White House statement released after they met stating that Trump “has zero expectations for NATO at this point.” But although he doesn’t seem to realize it, the biggest loser in the disintegration of NATO would be the U.S., not Europe.  

In fact, it offers European nations a chance to develop and assert their own considerable power on the world stage. But all this won’t happen overnight, and it won’t happen without determined political leadership across the continent. Europeans need to begin that process now, weaning themselves from dependence on the U.S.

For the last 75 years or so, seemingly nothing could destroy NATO — not even the end of the Cold War. After World War II, it presented........

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