POLITICO: Is this the end of NATO?

U.S. Vice President Vance to EU's von der Leyen: “Take responsibility!..”

“We’ve now got an alliance between a Russian president who wants to destroy Europe and an American president who also wants to destroy Europe,” one diplomat said, POLITICO quotes.

As they gathered for the summit today, European officials were still reeling from the readout of Trump’s 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as U.S. Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth’s mid-week remarks in Brussels. For former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, the most overlooked and chilling line that came from Hegseth was his warning that “realities” will prevent the U.S. from being Europe’s security guarantor.

In other words — no U.S. backstop.

Like others, Landsbergis senses an end of an era. “It may well mark the advent of the twilight of NATO,” he said. “Especially when you combine it with what I think Washington will soon announce — the withdrawal of 20,000 U.S. troops from Europe.”

As the Lithuanian spoke with POLITICO in Munich, Hegseth was in Warsaw, foreshadowing a troop draw down and warning already frazzled Europeans that “now is the time to invest because you can’t make an assumption that America’s presence will last forever.”

Much like it’s been in the U.S., the Trump administration’s nonstop, fast-moving shock-and-awe announcements have been overwhelming and disorienting in Europe too — as the strategy is, no doubt, designed to be. Wrong-footing opponents and critics, giving them little time to draw breath and reorient.

And it is that line, more than any other, that’s setting European teeth on edge — along with harsh lines like: “Make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into ‘Uncle Sucker.’“

U.S. Secretary of Defense Hegseth

“Trump’s direct approach to Putin, combined with Secretary of Defense Hegseth informing allies in Brussels that the U.S. is preemptively acquiescing to some of Russia’s core demands before talks have even begun is a double blow — not only to Ukraine but to the future of Europe,” remarked Chatham House’s Keir Giles.

Sure, the summits during Trump’s first term also had a “U.S. vs. Europe” feel, but his former national security team would smooth things out. Feathers would be ruffled — not plucked.

And for Europe, the U.S. remains the exceptional nation, the indispensable one to summon in times of trouble. Who else is there to turn to now?

Maybe oneself.

Former German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger told POLITICO that “maybe Europe needed to be tasered,” to be shocked into being more forward-leaning and self-reliant.

One senior EU diplomat, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: “We’ve now got an alliance between a Russian president who wants to destroy Europe and an American president who also wants to destroy Europe.”

The Transatlantic Alliance is over…

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