Wolfgang Ischinger, the chair of the conference, thanked him for the message of reassurance, adding, “I’m not sure you heard the sigh of relief in this hall.” This despite the fact that Rubio, like Vance, clearly misunderstands Europe and is in denial about the threats facing the United States and the transatlantic alliance. It would be similarly wrong to claim that Europeans have outsourced Ukraine’s defense to the United States, given that Europe has been the biggest provider of aid to the country, allocating more than 132 billion euros from January 2022 to December 2024, compared with 114 billion euros from the U.S., according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Meanwhile, Trump officials have seemed keen to alienate the EU and dismiss the “rules-based order” as nothing more than “cloud castle abstractions,” despite the fact that these are the very allies and ideals that the U.S. needs to compete with China and contain Russia.
Author: Thomas Wright
Published at: 2026-02-15 20:26:00
Still want to read the full version? Full article
