Europeans fear that the United States will withdraw NATO support. They are right to worry – Americans should also

The United States has long played a leadership role in NATO, the Most successful military alliance in history.

The United States and 11 other countries in North and Europe America NATO founded In 1949, after the Second World War. NATO has since increased its members Include 32 countries in Europe and North America.

But now European leaders and politicians fear The United States has become A less reliable allyposing major challenges for Europe and, by involvement, NATO.

This concern is not unfounded.

President Donald Trump spoke several times about the desire to graspwhich is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a member of NATO. He said Canada, another member of NATO, should become “The 51st state. “Trump also On the side with Russia to the United Nations and declared that the European Union, the political and economic group uniting 27 European countries, was designed for “Screw” the United States.

Yet Trump – as well as other senior US government officials – said the United States remains committed to staying and supporting NATO.

For decades, The two liberals And Conservative American Politicians have recognized that the United States strengthens its own military and economic interests by being a leader of NATO – and keeping Thousands of American troops Based in Europe to subscribe to its commitment.

Understand NATO

The United States, Canada and 10 Western European countries trained NATO almost 80 years ago to help maintain peace and stability in Europe after the Second World War. NATO has helped European and North American countries bind and defend itself against the threat posed by the Soviet Union, a former communist Empire that fell in 1991.

NATO employs around 2,000 people at its head office in Brussels. He does not have his own military troops and relies on his 32 member countries to carry their own military forces to carry out operations and other tasks under the direction of NATO.

NATO has its own Military command structureDirected by an American military officer, and including military officers from other countries. This team Plans and executions All NATO military operations.

In peacetime, military forces working with NATO put training exercises Eastern Europe And other places to help reassure the allies concerning the force of the military coalition – and to dissuade potential attackers, such as Russia.

NATO has a relatively small annual budget $ 3.6 billion. The United States and Germany are the greatest contributors to this budget, each responsible for Financing 16% of NATO costs every year.

Separated from the annual NATO budget in 2014, NATO members agreed that each participating country should spend equivalent of 2% of its gross domestic product on their own national defense. Twenty-two of the 31 NATO members With military forces expected that 2% of April 2025.

Although NATO is mainly a military alliance, it has roots in mutual economic interests in the United States and Europe.

Europe is the most important economic partner in the United States. Roughly A quarter of all American exchanges Is with Europe – more than the United States with Canada, China or Mexico.

More than 2.3 million American jobs are directly linked to the production of exports which reach European countries that are part of NATO.

NATO helps protect this mutual economic relationship between the United States and Europe. If Russia or another country is trying to intimidate, dominate or even invade a European country, it could harm the American economy. In this way, NATO can be considered as the insurance policy that subscribes to the strength and vitality of the American economy.

The heart of that The insurance policy is article 5A mutual defense commitment that member countries accept when they join NATO.

Article 5 indicates that an armed attack on an NATO member is considered an attack on the whole alliance. If a member of NATO is attacked, all other NATO members must help defend the country in question. NATO members have only invoked article 5 once, After September 11, 2001, attack In the United States, when the Alliance has deployed planes to monitor the American sky.

A flickering commitment to article 5

Trump has wondered if it would apply article 5 And help defend a NATO country if it does not pay the 2% required for its gross domestic product.

NBC News also reported in April 2025 that the United States will likely To cut 10,000 or more Of nearly 85,000 American troops stationed in Europe. The United States could also abandon his first military position Within NATO, according to NBC.

Many political analysts expect the United States to distance its national security objective away from Europe and to Threats posed by China – More specifically, the threat of invasive China or Taiwan attacking.

At the same time, the Trump administration seems impatient To reset relationships with Russia. This despite the atrocities of the Russian army committed against Ukrainian military forces And civilians In war, Russia began in 2022 and Russia Hybrid war intensification Against Europeans in the form of secret spy attacks across Europe. This hybrid war would understand allegedly Russia Carry out cyber attacks and sabotage operations across Europe. This also involves Russia which would try to Plant incendiary devices on planes directed to North America, among other things.

A changing role in Europe

The evidence available Indicates that the United States stands out from its role in Europe. At best – from a European security point of view – the United States could still defend European allies with the potential threat of His arsenal of nuclear weapons. The United States has considerably More nuclear weapons that any country in Western Europe, but it is not clear that it is enough to dissuade Russia without the clear presence of a large number of American troops in Europe, especially since Moscow continues to perceive the United States as NATO’s most important and powerful member.

For this reason, considerably reducing the reduction in the number of American troops in Europe, abandoning the main positions of American military management in NATO, or moving away from the Alliance in other respects seems exceptionally perilous. Such actions could increase Russian aggression across Europe, ultimately threatening not only European security BU America.

Maintaining America’s leadership position in NATO and maintaining its troop levels in Europe helps strengthen American commitment to defend its most important allies. This is the best way to protect the vital economic interests of the United States in Europe today and to ensure that Washington will have friends to call in the future.