> There's a deeper message here. I believe that countries around the world are moving towards a stance that the US is an unreliable partner and that their national security depends on not being reliant upon the US.
That's not a bad thing, because the EU has been a mooch since the end of the Cold War, at least. It's unfortunate it took two terms of Trump for them to finally chance their attitude.
I don't believe they are a mooch at all. But when your biggest ally, and potentially most powerful adversary, becomes unreliable, a change in military policy and funding should be expected. If the EU started talking about invading, would you not reevaluate your military position to ensure you will be safe?
It's common knowledge that most European countries weren't meeting their NATO defense spending commitments for a long time. I'm still not sure if they do even after the post-Ukraine increase in defense spending.
That's not a bad thing, because the EU has been a mooch since the end of the Cold War, at least. It's unfortunate it took two terms of Trump for them to finally chance their attitude.