What will the post-Trump transatlantic alliance look like? I discussed with two very sharp observers of European politics: former Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod & former Executive Vice President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans. Part 2 of our conversation:

@JeppeKofod @F__Timmermans Anyone in American circle thinking this is a one time thing and world will wait it out is delusional. US has demonstrated that there can be Trump 3, 4, 5..... or may be worse. Europe can and must stand on its own for its defence.

@JeppeKofod @F__Timmermans This whole “trans atlantic split” is a show to literally double or triple the arms industry’s business in the NATO countries. Now they will tax the poor and feed the rich, who owns all the arms companies, in the name of “Europe doing it alone”.

@JeppeKofod @F__Timmermans Anybody can see that we need to split NATO into an Atlantic Ocean Police Force and a European defense force.

Make Britain Strong Again

What lesson will the NATO -transatlantic alliance learn from President Trump’s term? That America is not to be trusted? Or that America wants maturity from its allies? Or that America wants an alliance of equals? Mature and Equal allies that are able to defend themselves? -That don’t immediately look at America for salvation because they are confident they can defend themselves? -That understands - the alliance has two-military superpowers they are tasked to defend themselves from- which a single military superpower will have difficulty defending against without a strong ally? One may hate President Trump but one must learn from the issues President Trump callously brought to light.

@JeppeKofod @F__Timmermans ❤️

From your past editorial: “When the U.S. acts like a rulemaker rather than a shakedown artist, it buys something more valuable than fear: consent. Consent is what turns hegemony into leadership, and leadership into a system that other states find preferable to the alternatives. It is also what keeps the balancing impulse from igniting. This strategic capital built over decades is now being squandered. And in the long run, an America that behaves like an utterly self-interested predator on the world stage will not grow stronger; it will grow lonelier. Allies will hedge. Partners will search for options. Neutrals will inch away. And the balancing that history predicted all along may finally arrive, not because America became weak, but because it forgot the real source of its strength.”