Europe Is Accelerating a NATO Fallback Plan in Case Trump Pulls Out

[BlueWavePsych]

Source: WSJ

A fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself using NATO’s existing military structures if the U.S. departs is gaining traction after getting buy-in from Germany, a long-term opponent of a go-it-alone approach.

The officials working on the plans, which some officials are referring to as “European NATO,” are seeking to get more Europeans into the alliance’s command-and-control roles and supplement U.S. military assets with their own.

The plans—advancing informally through side discussions and over dinner meetings in and around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—aren’t intended to rival the current alliance, participants said. European officials are aiming to preserve deterrence against Russia, operational continuity and nuclear credibility even if Washington withdraws forces from Europe or refuses to come to its defense, as President Trump has threatened.

The plans, first conceived last year, underscore the depth of European anxiety over U.S. reliability. They accelerated after Trump threatened to seize Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark, and are now gaining fresh urgency amid the standoff over Europe’s refusal to back America’s war in Iran.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/europe-nato-trump-plans-3a423233

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[ananda]

1. Do what you gotta do, Europe.

No one would blame you... except
maybe Trumpers.

[vapor2]

2. One of my greatest fears but technically he can't pull out

Biden signed a resolution in 2023

[Fiendish Thingy]

3. The US can't leave NATO without approval from congress

Trump could move troops around, and post mean tweets about not responding to Article 5 calls for help and such, but he can’t pull out of NATO.

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

4. Whether de jure or de facto, the result may be the same.

I could see the Old Man pulling out unilaterally—even if it’s just by reassigning every U.S. officer with a NATO posting and stopping payment on all NATO-facing funding. He wouldn’t be abrogating the treaty; he’d just be acting under his powers as Commander in Chief.

Is it accurate or even legal? No, probably not. But will the current Congress do anything to stop it? If we take Congress in January, a Democratic-controlled Congress might do something—but that’s a long way off.

I think Europe is smart to build a contingency. And even if the U.S. does not pull out, they may slide toward a Europe-centered NATO-like organization, and the alliance could dissolve under our feet.

And I’m not sure I could blame them. We have proven an inconsistent ally at best in the last 10–20 years.

I hope none of this comes to pass. But none of it would surprise me. One of the worst things the Old Man has done is squander the immense influence and goodwill the U.S. has built up around the world over the last 75 years. His lack of understanding of the value of Soft Power has caused irreparable harm.