NATO, Trump and 'Article 5%': What are the implications for European security?

The UK in a Changing Europe Podcast

Since Donald Trump entered office six months ago, he has cast doubt on the US commitment to the NATO alliance and applied pressure on European countries to increase their defence spending. This dominated June's NATO summit in the Hague which took place during a time of acute global security challenges, from Russia's war in Ukraine to escalating conflict in the Middle East. To explore the complexities of American politics and foreign policy and how it affects Europe, Anand Menon is joined by Constanze Stelzenmüller, a leading expert on German, European, and trans-Atlantic foreign and security policy and strategy and Director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. They reflect on the NATO summit and its remarkably brief summit declaration, the transformation of Article V to 'Article 5%', and whether Europeans can both reach the new 5% spending target and spend the money efficiently. They also discuss whether Europe can rely on the US as a security partner, Trump's foreign policy agenda, and the connection between the MAGA right and populist right parties in Europe and ask whether the UK-US relationship is really all that special.