‘Europe on its own’? Prospect of Trump victory has European leaders nervous

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00:00When Donald Trump announced J.D. Vance as his running mate, it reignited fears about

00:05what a second Trump term could mean for Europe.

00:09Vance has made his isolationist views clear from the start.

00:14Just after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Ukraine, he said on a podcast,

00:18quote, I got to be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way

00:23or another.

00:25Trump himself has put ongoing funding for Kiev in doubt and has vowed he would end

00:30the war in 24 hours if he wins, without explaining how.

00:34He's also said he would not come to the defense of a NATO ally that was under attack by Russia

00:39if that member wasn't paying a sufficient amount on its own defense.

00:43No, I would not protect you.

00:45In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want.

00:48You got to pay.

00:50The U.S. Congress has since passed legislation to limit a president's ability to pull out

00:54of NATO.

00:55But with the exception of Hungary's Trump-friendly Viktor Orban, EU leaders have spent months

01:01increasingly concerned about what a Trump-Vance administration could mean for Europe's overall

01:07security.

01:08If 2024 brings us America first again, it will be more than ever Europe on its own.

01:18When it became clear that Trump would be the Republican candidate in 2024, French President

01:23Emmanuel Macron argued that Europe should be more assertive on the world stage and not

01:28depend on the U.S. for its own long-term security.

01:33Will the U.S. administration remain the same?

01:36No one knows, and we cannot delegate our collective security and our stability to the choice of

01:42American voters in the years to come.

01:47When NATO members gathered in Washington in July, they made attempts to make the alliance

01:52Trump-proof, agreeing to support Ukraine on an irreversible path to NATO membership, along

01:57with a long-term pledge of funding to key from NATO allies.

02:02Even with a new secretary general in Mark Rutte, the pragmatic prime minister of the

02:06Netherlands, who some have referred to as the Trump whisperer, there are fears that

02:11if Trump ends up in the White House a second time, he could still undermine the alliance.

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