The Inside Story of Europe’s Breakup With the U.S.
7/8/202628 min
President Trump’s tariffs, threats against Greenland, and other “America-first” demands have turned away the U.S.’s longtime allies. Now, Western leaders are considering how to decouple from American influence and move forward without the decades-long partnership. WSJ’s Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw explain how this "loveless marriage" is coming apart. Jessica Mendoza hosts.
Further Listening:
- Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers
- Make Money Not War: Trump’s Plan for Peace in Ukraine
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJessica Mendoza· Host0:02
[music] Today, leaders from all over the world are gathered in Turkey for an annual meeting of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's a major alliance of more than 30 countries that's historically been celebrated by leaders across Europe and North America, but one key person is very unhappy with it.
Speaker 20:23
[music] I'll say it publicly, we're very disappointed with NATO because NATO has done absolutely nothing.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:31
President Donald Trump has a long list of complaints with NATO. He's threatened tariffs, he's said he'll take over Canada and Greenland, and he's even talked about pulling the US out of NATO entirely.
Speaker 20:44
I think NATO's making a very foolish mistake, and I, I've long said that, you know, I wonder whether or not NATO would ever be there for us.
Jessica Mendoza· Host0:53
Now, it seems like Trump's adversarial stance toward NATO is finally taking its toll. The relationship is breaking down.
Joe Parkinson· Guest1:01
Hi, I'm Joe Parkinson.
Drew Hinshaw· Guest1:05
I'm Drew Hinshaw.
Joe Parkinson· Guest1:06
And we run the Wall Street Journal's World Enterprise team.
Jessica Mendoza· Host1:10
Our colleagues Joe and Drew have been looking into how this alliance of Western powers is splintering. They've spoken with heads of government and their top ministers and aides, and they've parsed through meeting notes and classified intelligence documents, all to piece together how this partnership that's been in place since the Cold War has started to fracture.