Media pointed to Europe's unpreparedness for the challenges of a Trump presidency
European politicians believe that they are ready for the second term of American President Donald Trump, but their confidence is unfounded. Foreign Policy magazine stated on January 23.
"Focused on the wrong goals and distracted by political crises, Europe is far from being ready for the challenges of Trump's second term as U.S.president," the article said.
The main problem for European officials is to realize the need for major changes in military spending and strategy, as flattery and bribes are unlikely to cancel Trump's plans to shift US military commitments to Europe, which risks being left without Washington's protection and its own reliable defense, the publication notes.
The piece points out that for Trump and his team, Europe's complacency is getting in the way of their goal of shifting defense spending to European NATO allies. In order to force Europe to act, they may significantly reduce the US military presence in Europe and shift responsibility for security to European Union (EU) countries.
The day before, Trump said he was unsure whether to continue sponsoring NATO because America is protecting members of the alliance and not getting help in return. In addition, he repeated his statement that NATO should raise defense spending from 2 to 5% of WFP.
Earlier, on January 22, the media reported that the US President intends to reduce the US military contingent in Europe by 20 thousand people. It was specified that Trump is based on the fact that the US troops in Europe are only a "deterrence tool", so the cost of their maintenance can not be covered solely by the funds of US taxpayers.
Prior to that, on January 21, the American president announced his intention to get NATO countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. He also complained that the USA had spent $200bn more on military aid to Ukraine than other countries and said that they would have to "equalize the situation".
