BarcelonaWhen it comes to Donald Trump, it is very difficult to discern what is true and what is pure bluster in his words, but the reality is that it is becoming increasingly evident that Europe must go it alone in the field of security. The latest NATO summit, held in Ankara, has been the clearest example that these United States are not a reliable ally. Trump has once again staged his particular show, in which he has insulted political leaders like Giorgia Meloni, has threatened countries like Spain, has insisted that he wants to keep Greenland, and has made it clear that, if it were up to him, he would dismantle the Atlantic Alliance because he sees no use for it. His press conferences are a collection of absurdities that serve both to provide sensationalist headlines and to cause confusions that quickly go viral on social networks, such as referring to Iran as the Islamic Republic of Japan.
To top it all off, Trump has taken advantage of the summit to declare the ceasefire with Iran broken and resume attacks, which in turn has caused the price of oil to rise and stock markets to fall. And on top of making these decisions without consulting anyone, he complains that no NATO partner wanted to help him.
In this context, European allies seem content to not suffer any more harm than necessary and to bring Trump around to their way of thinking, for example with the decision to facilitate Ukraine's access to Patriot missiles to counter Russian attacks. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte excels in the art of flattering Trump, to the point of causing secondhand embarrassment, in order to keep the Alliance standing. But this cannot be the only way, because Trump cannot be treated as if he were a passing phenomenon, a nightmare from which Europeans will one day wake up. The truth is that the isolationist and anti-European impulse is very strong in a part of American society that has decided to place its trust in the New York tycoon, and therefore we cannot expect the MAGA movement to disappear overnight.
Europe, therefore, has no choice but to move towards real strategic sovereignty, which includes defense but also other areas, especially technology, controlled today by large North American corporations in the hands of technooligarchs like Elon Musk or Peter Thiel, who do not hide their neofascist leanings, totally contrary to European values. In this race to detach itself from the United States, Europe is not alone. It can have allies like Canada, which is also in Washington's crosshairs, and with whom there is a total coincidence in how the world is understood.
The Ankara summit has been the culmination of an inevitable divorce, in which words go one way and reality another. And the reality is that the United States can no longer be counted on either as a guarantor of the continent's defense or as a reliable trading partner. After the customary photos and smiles, this is the only reality that remains.
