Today's WorldView The U.S. and Europe are working through a ‘marriage crisis’ “When you have ‘America First,’ you have to be careful that it’s not ending as America alone,” said Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken. May 12, 2025 at 12:00 a.m. EDTToday at 12:00 a.m. EDT

 

Column by Ishaan Tharoor

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Vice President JD Vance speaks with German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger at the Munich Leaders Meeting on Wednesday in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

Perhaps no U.S. allies have been more shaken by President Donald Trump’s second term than those in Europe. Trump’s nationalist and protectionist instincts clash with the liberal sensibilities of the European Union, as a political bloc, as well as with NATO, the foundational military alliance that has undergirded the transatlantic relationship for decades.

But Europe is adjusting to the new realities. Many European governments are boosting defense spending to cross well beyond the threshold of 2 percent of their GDP that has been expected of NATO members. And the Trump administration is also softening its pitch.

On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance spoke at a Washington-based session of the Munich Security Conference. His February appearance at the MSC’s major annual summit went down like a lead balloon in European circles, with Vance directing more animus at the West’s liberal establishment than autocratic geopolitical adversaries elsewhere. But last week, as Western leaders commemorated the 80th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, Vance sought to mend fences and insisted the United States and Europe were “on the same team.”

I caught up with Theo Francken, Belgium’s defense minister, who was in the room for Vance’s friendlier remarks. Our conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

In February, you warned in an interview about U.S. policy turning into “America alone” diplomacy. Is that a fear you still have?

I don’t have problems with an “America First” policy — that’s up to Americans. The only thing I said is that when you have “America First,” you have to be careful that it’s not ending as America alone. Every empire falls when it’s isolated. It was more a warm warning, not negative criticism. I’m an Atlanticist. I very much believe in our historical bonds. I just laid flowers at the Battle of the Bulge monument at Arlington Cemetery to remind all Belgians that the Americans were there. They saved us, and they saved us with a lot of lives.

For me, the main lesson from today, 80 years since the liberation of Europe, is that when we’re united, we’re the strongest. Nobody can defeat us. When you’re alone, and you’re having beef with Europe, or with European politicians, and with Canada, and with pretty much everybody — I don’t think that’s what you should do.

Were you encouraged by Vance’s comments [on Wednesday]? He sounded more conciliatory.

It was a constructive message and an open message towards Europe. And I like that, because it wasn’t always like that. And I think it’s good that they say NATO is super important and that we will keep on defending Western democracy, Western values, Western territory together. That’s a message that a lot of Europeans want to hear.

It seems the Trump administration has helped accelerate a conversation on European defense spending and commitments to NATO.

They’re right. Why do 350 million Americans need to pay security bills for 550 million Europeans? It makes no sense. And it’s not something new. [Former president Joe] Biden said it; so did [former president Barack] Obama. We need to do more by ourselves, and that means that we need to step up our defense. And I can tell you very clearly, Belgium is back on track. We’re doing the 2 percent this year. We were one of the founding fathers of NATO, but we weren’t the best pupil of NATO class in recent years, and now we did the correction.

How complicating or disruptive is Trump’s trade war in this context?

When I talk about defense, it is probably not the best timing to put tariffs on European enterprises and European citizens. It’s bad for the immense defense industry you have, because everybody in Europe is increasing defense spending. We got hundreds of billion dollars extra to get contracts to buy stuff. You have, in a lot of domains, the best equipment. You have huge companies, huge interests, huge jobs. In the same week I said I want to buy more F-35 [fighter jets], the United States said, “We are going to tariff you.” It is difficult to explain to my Parliament and also to my voters that we will buy more American equipment. [Note: Francken confirmed that U.S. defense contractor Lockheed Martin agreed to produce new F-35s for Belgium at a facility in Italy, not the United States.]

There is speculation that the rift between Trump’s America and the European Union will compel Europe to take a different approach to China. What do you make of that?

When you have a marriage crisis, don’t search immediately for a new partner, because then the marriage will end. So, I think it’s good to be calm. The [People’s Republic of China] is really hoping for [a transatlantic split]. It’s really putting a lot of diplomatic effort in that with a lot of contacts. They’re really active in Europe for the moment. But we’re not there yet.

How do you evaluate the Trump administration’s efforts to push for peace in Ukraine?

I believe in the good intentions of the United States, and I want this war to end as well. Everybody wants that. But I really don’t think that you can count on the good intentions of Moscow. It’s not in their strategic interest to stop the war. And even when they make a ceasefire, it will just last months, maybe a couple of years, and then they will restart.

So what’s going to last longer — European unity in the support of Ukraine or Russia’s capacity to sustain this war?

I think that Europe is standing really strong. I think that [French President Emmanuel] Macron and [British Prime Minister Keir] Starmer showed real leadership. And [new German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz is on the same line. [Italian Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni is there. She’s very strong. And they all say, “Okay, with or without United States, we will keep on supporting Ukraine.” We do this because of our Ukrainian bonds. But we also will do this because of our own security interests, because we have to stop Putin and be very clear that he has to stop with this killing and warmongering.

By Ishaan Tharoor

Ishaan Tharoor is a foreign affairs columnist at The Washington Post, where he authors the Today's WorldView newsletter and column. In 2021, he won the Arthur Ross Media Award in Commentary from the American Academy of Diplomacy. He previously was a senior editor and correspondent at Time magazine, based first in Hong Kong and later in New York.follow on X@ishaantharoor