The End of the Transatlantic Illusion
The US National Security Strategy[1] published by the Trump administration in December 2025 has alarmed Europe, which perceives it as a profound rupture in US foreign policy toward the continent. However, in reality, there is nothing fundamentally new.
The disengagement of the United States from Europe did not begin with Trump. It can already be traced back to Barack Obama’s Pivot to Asia (2011), which signaled a strategic reorientation away from Europe. Obama’s failure to act after Bashar al-Assad crossed the “red line” in Syria (2013) further illustrated the end of American interventionism as a means to enforce the global order and so-called universal values that emerged after the end of the Cold War, under US unipolar dominance.
Trump undeniably disrupts US foreign policy by openly abandoning this role of guardian of the existing international order and instead seeking to reshape it in his own image, one that increasingly distances the US from European democracies. However, this American disengagement from Europe predates Trump; it is simply more visible under his presidency. Trump’s approach is more confrontational and transactional than that of Obama or Biden, whose rhetoric was more diplomatic, yet the underlying substance of US strategy remains largely unchanged. I believe that even a different president would likely have continued to turn away from Europe, albeit in a more subtle and less confrontational manner. American strategic interests are now firmly centered on Asia, and the US no longer has either the means or the willingness to act as the guarantor of the global order, given the excessive financial and human costs.
Paradoxically, Trump’s brutality and bluntness force Europeans to confront a reality they long refused to acknowledge, even though it had been evident for years. In this sense, Trump may ultimately prove to be a long-term opportunity for Europe. By brutally exposing the limits of US security guarantees, his approach accelerates a necessary process of strategic awakening. It pushes Europeans to invest more seriously in their own defense, to strengthen strategic autonomy, and to assume greater responsibility for their security and global role. While this adjustment is costly and politically difficult, it may enable Europe to emerge more resilient, credible, and sovereign in a world increasingly shaped by great-power competition rather than liberal assumptions.
[1] The National Security Strategy is an official document issued by the White House that outlines the United States’ core security priorities, strategic objectives, and its perception of global threats.