NATO’s June summit in The Hague will present a critical opportunity for America’s allies to reaffirm their commitment to collective security. The worsening security environment in both Europe and the Indo-Pacific can only be met by increased burden-sharing from all NATO members.
Germany is seeking to build a “drone wall” along Nato’s eastern border with Russia to help defend its Baltic allies from a future invasion.
Friedrich Merz, the incoming chancellor, has vowed to rearm Germany in response to the threat from Russia, passing historic reforms last month that unlock potentially unlimited spending on defence projects.
The German arms industry is now discussing the idea of building a fleet of drones – or a “drone wall” – to defend all or parts of Nato’s eastern flank.
Canada and other NATO allies were met by a request from the Trump administration to massively hike defence spending at the military pact’s meeting of foreign affairs ministers Thursday in Brussels.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, who attended the meeting, declined to say whether she thought Canada could increase military expenditures to reach 5 per cent of gross domestic product, as Mr. Rubio requested. “I’m not into speculation,” she said in an interview.
Canada currently spends about 1.37 per cent of its annual economic output on defence and has pledged to reach 2 per cent by 2030. No NATO ally has so far committed to increasing 5 per cent, although Mr. Rubio said Thursday the United States plans to do so.
As CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and former U.S. ambassador to NATO in the Obama administration, Ivo Daalder is a member in good standing of the foreign policy establishment. In a recent piece on the Foreign Affairs website, Daalder, after the obligatory criticism of Donald Trump’s alleged undermining of NATO, concludes that Trump has been right all along: Europe is “fully capable of ensuring [its] future security [and] [t]he time to start is now.” NATO faces the worst crisis in its 76-year history, Daalder writes, because Trump has “questioned the two core principles” of the alliance: its shared threat perception and its commitment to collective defense.
President Trump is considering giving up US command of Nato, held by American generals since Dwight D Eisenhower became the first supreme commander 75 years ago. This has further shaken those already panicking about the prospect that Trump might be contemplating pulling out of the alliance altogether. They are right to panic about the state of Nato – but not because of Trump.
We hear never-ending boasts that Nato is the most successful defensive alliance in history. Perhaps it was once, although that was never really put to the test.
It is “premature” for Germany to consider sending its soldiers to Ukraine, warns the Armed Forces Commissioner.
A new report released this week gives a damning assessment of the capabilities of the German army, highlighting its “disastrous” infrastructure, and calling it “premature” for its soldiers to be sent on a peacekeeping mission to Ukraine.
Presenting the report on Tuesday, March 11th, Eva Högl, the Armed Forces Commissioner of the Bundestag, said the Bundeswehr (armed forces) “still has too little of everything” despite a €100-billion special fund, established in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which was supposed to improve recruitment, develop infrastructure, and speed up new weapons procurement.
Anybody clinging to the hope that the United States will continue its post-Second World War role as the world’s policeman without major changes was likely disabused of that notion during the tumultuous Feb. 28 White House meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Perhaps the most astonishing part of that clash was that Trump was — for him — relatively restrained. Vice-President J.D. Vance seemed determined to derail the meeting and Zelenskyy apparently came looking for a fight. In the end, it was clear that, going forward, the United States government will assist other countries on its own terms, and only if there’s something to be gained.
Billionaire Elon Musk threw his weight behind a US exit from NATO, saying on his social media platform that it “doesn’t make sense for America to pay for the defense of Europe.”
The senior adviser to US President Donald Trump was responding to a post on X early Sunday that asserted the US should “Exit NATO *now*!”
President Donald Trump warned NATO allies on Thursday that if they don’t pay up, the U.S. won’t come to their defense if they’re attacked.
The president, since his first term, has pushed for other members of the alliance to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Now he’s threatening to change U.S. policy when it comes to NATO’s Article Five – which states if one member is attacked, all countries in the alliance must respond – if they don’t pony up.
VERY INTERESTING
Trump says he will NOT protect NATO members if they are not paying their fair share.
He then points out that the US do NOT benefit from NATO!
“Do you think they’re gonna come and protect us? Hmmmm. They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure.”
Trump is setting… pic.twitter.com/nTjF0PnjjH
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) March 6, 2025
Fear is growing in Western capitals that President Trump will yank America out of the North Atlantic Treaty. An untested law, enacted in 2022, requires an act of Congress or approval by the Senate before such a move, but the 1949 treaty includes a loophole to abandon the alliance regardless.
“Get us out of NATO,” the Utah Republican, Senator Lee, wrote Saturday on X. In a December post, he called the alliance “a great deal — for Europe,” responding to a graph showing that America pays 70.5 percent of the alliance’s total.
Elon Musk is calling on America to leave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization altogether following President Trump’s public fight with President Zelensky in the Oval Office, which led many of the alliance’s leaders to reaffirm their support for Ukraine. Neither Mr. Trump nor Vice President Vance are attending the European summit of NATO leaders at London this week.
Late Saturday night, Mr. Musk wrote on his social media platform X that America should exit the alliance, which includes 30 European countries, Canada, and the United States.
WT actual F?
“the UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air”.These insane, European War-Profiteers are HELLBENT on a kinetic WWIII…
These people are no longer our allies… pic.twitter.com/voc1vbDP8P
— Joe Dan Gorman (@JoeDanMedia) March 2, 2025
“The US will have to send their Sons & Daughters to fight & they will be dying”
Zelensky talking about American Troops dying if NATO Article 5 is triggered.
Except now it will be British Troops that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he would deploy. pic.twitter.com/oeajMXAZ17
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) March 2, 2025
Nato could be in its final days, a former Supreme Allied Commander has warned, as America’s commitment to the transatlantic alliance wavers.
Admiral James Stavridis, who served as Nato’s Europe commander from 2009-2013, said we could be witnessing the “last days” of the alliance and the start of a new “European Treaty Organisation”.
Donald Trump’s insistence on European leaders increasing their defence budgets, combined with his falling out with Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, has sparked concern among members of the alliance.
NATO Secretary General calls for Zelensky to ‘restore relationship’ with Trump following Oval Office clash
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called on March 1 for President Volodymyr Zelensky to mend relations with U.S. President Donald Trump following a tense exchange in White House a day prior.
Zelensky left Washington early without signing a mineral deal with the United States following a tense argument in front of journalists between the two leaders. Trump later reportedly ordered his officials to tell the Ukrainian delegation to leave the White House, despite protest from the Ukrainians.
Speaking to the BBC, Rutte said that it was “important that President Zelensky finds a way to restore his relationship with the American president and with the senior American leadership team.”
UKRAINE: Norway's largest marine fuel company refused to sell diesel to a US Navy Virginia-Class attack submarine after Zelensky's disastrous Oval Office meeting. While the fuel was only for the USS Delaware's backup diesel engine, this is the first time a NATO member refused a… pic.twitter.com/ryBj4SmKxY
— @amuse (@amuse) March 1, 2025
h/t XC
Jagmeet Singh says he’s “absolutely” the right person to lead New Democrats into the next election despite the party’s drop in support.
A recent Leger poll suggests the NDP stands at just 14 percent—and that its support would drop to 12 percent with Mark Carney as Liberal leader.
Donald Trump wants Europe to step up and make an effort to contribute to its own defense.
European leaders are so angry that he is demanding they do so that they are throwing a tantrum and threatening to do just that.
Europe has lost its way
There is no longer any doubt that Europe and America are parting ways. The death of the transatlantic relationship was foretold many times, but at the Munich Security Conference this weekend, it finally ended.
The great American-European divorce has played out in three areas — Ukraine, free speech, and trade. Last week, Donald Trump blindsided the Europeans with his announcement of peace talks with Vladimir Putin. (He said he would do this during his election campaign, but Europe’s leaders were clearly not paying attention.) Keith Kellogg, Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, told the Europeans on Saturday that they will not be included in high-level peace negotiations.
