The organisers of the Munich security conference weren’t subtle. A large statue of an elephant stood in one of the lobbies. The logo on all official documents was an elephant, this time with bits of countries printed on it. A poster for an exhibition celebrating the meeting’s 60th anniversary had an image of an elephant in a stately room. Everyone understood the meaning of the elephant in the room: it was America’s disregard for Europe.

At last year’s meeting, J.D. Vance had declared the biggest threat to Europe was not from Russia or China but ‘from within’. Europe’s leaders were becoming tyrannical, the Vice President argued, arresting citizens for exercising their free speech. ‘If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you,’ he said.

There are doubts the US would come to the defence of any Nato member that was attacked

There are doubts the US would come to the defence of any Nato member that was attacked

The relationship has only worsened since. Donald Trump has tried repeatedly to end the Ukraine war in Russia’s favour, horrifying European leaders. Last month saw a full-blown diplomatic crisis as the President attempted to bully Denmark into handing over Greenland in the name of US ‘national security’.

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz seemed to have got the message. ‘Let me begin with the uncomfortable truth,’ he said. ‘A deep chasm, a deep trench, has opened between Europe and the United States. Vice President J.D. Vance said this here, in Munich, a year ago. He was right.’

Europe, Merz argued, was ready to take more responsibility for its own defence: it must re-arm. Last June, Trump extracted commitments from Nato allies to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP. But what no European leader can say for sure is whether these commitments are to win Trump over or to protect themselves should America withdraw security guarantees from the Continent – or, worse yet, attempt to seize European territory by force.

The threat of Trump annexing Greenland looks to have receded, but the President may yet try again.........

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