While demanding European help in the Strait of Hormuz, Donald Trump has spent 14 months undermining European security. He stopped military and financial aid to Ukraine, giving Vladimir Putin renewed hope of victory. His envoy, Steve Witkoff, began openly negotiating business deals between the United States and Russia - even though the war in Ukraine has not ended and Moscow never agreed to a cease-fire.
In The Atlantic, Anne Applebaum laid out the contradiction, "Hvylya" reports. Witkoff presents himself to European leaders as a neutral figure, positioned somewhere between NATO and Russia - as if the United States were not the founder and leader of NATO, and as if European security were of no special concern to Americans.
Trump continues to attack Zelensky and to misrepresent American support for Ukraine, which he repeatedly describes as worth $300 billion or more. The real number, Applebaum wrote, is closer to $50 billion over three years. At current rates, Trump could spend that much in as little as three months in the Middle East - starting a war rather than trying to stop one.
Europeans might have tolerated the insults and even the trade damage, Applebaum argued, had Trump not posed a direct threat to their security. By encouraging Russian aggression and then demanding European troops in the Gulf, he created a situation where allied leaders see no reason to cooperate. Any contribution they make will be forgotten within days.
The calculation is simple: sacrifice counts for nothing in Trump's Washington. Allied governments now treat every American demand as disconnected from every previous interaction - because that is exactly how Trump operates.
Earlier, "Hvylya" covered Zelensky's response to U.S. accusations and the details of security talks.