Trump’s criticisms of the 77-year-old alliance are nothing new; accusations of freeloading against allies for supposedly inadequate defence spending date back to his first term. “Why, then, does everyone in this room have a knot in their stomach about the future of the transatlantic alliance? “Nato is an alliance built on trust: its deterrent value rests on the belief that NATO members will come to one another’s aid if a member is attacked. “The reality is that Europeans cannot do without the United States, when facing down the possibility that a revanchist Russia could try to cross Nato’s borders. “Europe is stuck with the United States, and it has to make the best of it.

Source: The Guardian April 11, 2026 14:21 UTC