Super Head

With Donald Trump becoming more erratic and lashing out at the traditional allies of the US, plans are afoot by members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to create a separate version of the organization beyond the American president's reach.

According to the Wall Street Journal's Bojan Pancevski and Daniel Michaels, European officials are advancing informal plans for what some are calling "European NATO," a parallel structure that would give Europeans greater command-and-control authority and supplement U.S. military assets with their own capabilities.

The plans represent a massive shift in European strategic thinking now that Germany has ceased resisting French calls for greater European defense sovereignty, preferring American military guarantees. That calculus has fundamentally changed under German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is now actively participating in the initiative over concerns about U.S. dependability as an ally during the Trump presidency and beyond.

European officials are explicit about their purpose: preserve deterrence against Russia, operational continuity and nuclear credibility even if the Trump administration withdraws forces from Europe or refuses to come to its defense, as the president has repeatedly threatened.

Trump's recent rhetoric has only accelerated the timeline. He branded European allies as "cowards," called NATO "a paper tiger," and added menacingly, in reference to Putin: "Putin knows that too." He has also threatened to leave NATO entirely over Europe's refusal to support his Iran war, describing the move as already "beyond reconsideration," the Journal is reporting.

The momentum is undeniable. Finland's President Alexander Stubb, one of the leaders involved in the initiative, signaled the permanent nature of the shift: "A burden shifting from the U.S. toward Europe is ongoing and it will continue…as part of U.S. defense and national security strategy."

The report notes Europe is not waiting for Trump to make good on his threats. The plans, first conceived last year, have accelerated dramatically after Trump threatened to seize Greenland from NATO member Denmark and intensified amid the standoff over Europe's refusal to back the highly criticized Iran war.

Though congressional approval would be required for a formal NATO withdrawal, Trump retains broad authority as commander-in-chief to move troops or assets out of Europe or withhold support — a threat that has transformed European defense planning from theoretical to urgent.

Donald Trump's Iran struggle has exposed a fundamental truth: the world no longer fears American threats, and traditional allies are abandoning Washington to form new partnerships.

According to Politico's Nahal Toosi, Trump faces a wall of resistance from longtime U.S. allies who are actively forming new alliances and sidelining America as a diplomatic partner. In recent days, multiple global players have openly defied the president, exposing the severe limits of American influence.

The core problem is philosophical. "Trump and his aides often appear to operate as if most other people on the planet are 'non-player characters' in a video game," and they believe that America can use "threats, economic muscle and military action to bend other capitals to its will," Toosi observed.

But foreign policy doesn't work that way and the Politico analyst suggested the current administration is "not adjusting well" to a changed world.

Trump shows no signs of learning from this reality. Richard Haass, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, observed: "If there were an appreciation that bullying was no longer a likely to succeed tactic you'd see a move away from it, but there's no real sign that Trump is doing so."

The problem is structural. "He is surrounded by 'yes' people," one senior European diplomat fumed.

Diplomacy requires reciprocity — a concept Trump's team appears incapable of grasping. "If you want something from somebody you have to give them something, unless like in World War II they've truly surrendered. It can't just be 'we're going to keep beating you,'" said a Western diplomat based in the Middle East.

Trump's tariffs are accelerating the divorce. Other countries are actively finding new trading partners beyond the U.S., reducing their economic reliance on America. As nations decrease their military and economic dependence on Washington, they become less likely to heed American demands in the future.

The fundamental misunderstanding runs deeper. Many foreign affairs experts worry that Trump treats global conflicts as real estate deals, reducing complex geopolitical issues to mere land disputes. But "identity, politics and the desire to simply survive as a people is what fuels many conflicts," not purely material calculations,' he wrote.

Trump and his team "fail to realize that people tend to fight for what gives their life meaning beyond the purely rational or material cost-benefit analysis," according to a former Latin American official granted anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive topic.