The Last Play to Keep America in Europe

Trump won’t sanction Putin, but the U.S. defense industry can still bind Europe to America—if it moves fast.

I had serious doubts about this NATO summit. At one point, I was convinced Trump might skip it altogether—maybe hold a solo presser from the U.S., or worse, show up just to stir controversy and set the stage for the alliance to unravel.

I wasn’t alone in that dystopian forecast. When Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this in late February, it only deepened the sense of dread:

“I am very curious to see how we are heading toward the NATO summit at the end of June. Whether we will still be talking about NATO in its current form or whether we will have to establish an independent European defense capability much more quickly.”