Europe and US need each other, but trust is gone, Politico writes

This year’s Munich Security Conference was milder than last year’s, but Donald Trump has fundamentally changed transatlantic ties, Politico writes.

As noted, European and American leaders spent three days pledging cooperation and offering to slap a new coat of paint on the façade of the transatlantic relationship. But the cracks are still showing.

The United States was less combative than a year ago. in its showing at the Munich Security Conference, when Vice President JD Vance launched a scorching attack on Europe. There is no consensus on how the relationship can move forward given the regular seismic shocks the Trump administration revels in delivering to the system.

The continent has been bumped down to third place after the Western hemisphere and China on the administration’s list of priorities; new U.S. aid to Ukraine has shriveled to almost nothing; and Europe has been subjected to constant attacks over free speech and digital regulation.

Meanwhile, the continent is fighting the rise of MAGA-backed far-right parties at home and a wounded but dangerous Russia on its doorstep that Trump insists on bringing back into the global order.

“I don’t think we will be doing business as usual,” Evika Siliņa, the prime minister of Latvia, a country on the frontline of a potential Russian attack and which depends on allies for its security, told Politico.

One European CEO said it would take “a generation” to rebuild the trust that has been lost over the past year.

“American foreign policy has changed,” Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland and occasional golf buddy of President Donald Trump, told Politico.

It also wasn’t lost on Europeans that Rubio barely mentioned Russia and Ukraine during his address, several officials told Politico.