I was in the audience at this month’s Doha Forum when the U.S. Ambassador to NATO Mathew Whitaker stated that Europe was in danger of becoming a “museum that is a relic of the past”—a place where people go to see old churches, drink beer, eat waffles, and enjoy wine and cheese, but one that is doing little to remain a relevant actor in global politics. There was an audible gasp in the room when he uttered these words.

Whitaker was discussing the recently released U.S. National Security Strategy, which he summarized as chastising “rich European countries” for, among other things, not investing enough in the “conventional defense of the European continent.”

I was in the audience at this month’s Doha Forum when the U.S. Ambassador to NATO Mathew Whitaker stated that Europe was in danger of becoming a “museum that is a relic of the past”—a place where people go to see old churches, drink beer, eat waffles, and enjoy wine and cheese, but one that is doing little to remain a relevant actor in global politics. There was an audible gasp in the room when he uttered these words.

Whitaker was discussing the recently released U.S. National Security Strategy, which he summarized as chastising “rich European countries” for, among other things, not investing enough in the “conventional defense of the European continent.”

For two days after Whitaker’s statement, policy experts, journalists and world leaders gathered in the Qatari capital mulled over the political implications of the 2025 edition of the National Security Strategy. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the document’s “strong indictment of Europe” sowed an “unnecessary division” between the U.S. and its long-time allies.

The week after the strategy’s release, European leaders tried to respond in kind. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that some of the strategy “is plausible, some of it is understandable, and some of it is unacceptable for us from a European point of view.”

President of the European Council António Costa wrote on X: “What I see is that there are so many people trying to undermine Europe. Why? Because the [European Union] is strong. And we are working to make it even stronger.”

But with all the handwringing over the Trump administration turning its back on Europe, commentators often overlook that the strategy’s indictment of European countries........

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