Having been shocked by Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s negotiations with Russia, the great and the good in Europe are descending on Washington to understand what the Trump administration is up to. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, are merely the most well-known figures to cross the pond in the past few days.
Having been shocked by Vice President J.D. Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s negotiations with Russia, the great and the good in Europe are descending on Washington to understand what the Trump administration is up to. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, are merely the most well-known figures to cross the pond in the past few days.
Yesterday’s tumultuous Oval Office meeting between presidents Trump and Zelensky revealed the confusion and emotion of the moment. Vance grew incandescent when Zelensky, responding to the vice president’s call for « diplomacy », rattled off examples of Vladimir Putin’s habit of breaking agreements. Zelensky publicly debated the merits of Trump’s preferred negotiating strategy. And Trump alternated between condemning Zelensky for « gambling with World War III », Obama for insufficiently standing up to Putin, and the Democrats and media for accusing him of colluding with Russia. Shortly thereafter, Zelensky left the White House without signing the agreed-upon minerals deal.
Many of Trump’s comments to Zelensky apply, in his mind, to all of Europe. « You don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards. » And despite Ukraine’s bravery, « I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. » Trump clearly wants a deal, and told Zelensky to return when he is « ready for peace. » Vance, for his part, is eager to talk tough to Europeans. Zelensky lost his composure.
As a result, the transatlantic partnership is more unsettled now than it has been in decades. As one prominent European conservative told me, Europe is facing a major dilemma: It wants to maintain its generous welfare state, transition its energy supply to renewables, and rearm quickly.
