Thread by @Monaheart1229

Ok, this is bad..."an increasing number of Europeans say they believe that relations with the United States will never be the same again.." #MondayMorning
nytimes.com/2019/02/17/wor…

2-"MUNICH — European leaders have long been alarmed that President Trump’s words and Twitter messages could undo a trans-Atlantic alliance that had grown stronger over seven decades. They had clung to the hope that those ties would bear up under the strain.But in the last few

3-"days of a prestigious annual security conference in Munich, the rift between Europe and the Trump administration became open, angry and concrete, diplomats and analysts say.A senior German official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak on such

4-"matters, shrugged his shoulders and said: “No one any longer believes that Trump cares about the views or interests of the allies. It’s broken.”The most immediate danger, diplomats and intelligence officials warned, is that the trans-Atlantic fissures now risk being

5-"exploited by Russia and China. Even the normally gloomy Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, happily noted the strains, remarking that the Euro-Atlantic relationship had become increasingly “tense.”“We see new cracks forming, and old cracks deepening,” Mr. Lavrov said.

6-"The Europeans no longer believe that Washington will change, not when Mr. Trump sees traditional allies as economic rivals and leadership as diktat. His distaste for multilateralism and international cooperation is a challenge to the very heart of what Europe is and needs to

7-"be in order to have an impact in the world. But beyond the Trump administration, an increasing number of Europeans say they believe that relations with the United States will never be the same again. Karl Kaiser, a longtime analyst of German-American relations, said,

8-"“Two years of Mr. Trump, and a majority of French and Germans now trust Russia and China more than the United States.”..There were signs that not all American and European leaders were willing to surrender the alliance so easily. To show solidarity with Europe, more than 50

9-"American lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats — a record number — attended the Munich Security Conference. They came, said Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, “to show Europeans that there is another branch of government which strongly supports NATO and

10-"the trans-Atlantic alliance.” The most visible pushback against Washington came from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany — who delivered an unusually passionate speech — and from her defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen. They spoke about the dangers of unilateral actions

11-"by major partners without discussing the consequences with allies. They cited Mr. Trump’s recent announcements that American troops would leave northern Syria and Afghanistan, as well as the administration’s decision to suspend one of the last remaining arms-control

12-"agreements: the ban on land-based intermediate range missiles.That decision affects European security, and there has been no alternative strategy, Ms. Merkel said. Abandoning the treaty, despite Russia’s violations, helps decouple Germany from the American nuclear umbrella.

13-"“We sit there in the middle with the result,” Ms. Merkel said. The Syria pullout, she continued, could only help Russia and Iran. That view was echoed by the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, who called American policy in Syria “a mystery to me.”

14-"When he was told by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, that the United States would preserve “some capacity” in Syria, the normally diplomatic Mr. Le Drian said, sarcastically: “Oh, that’s good news. I didn’t know.” And then he added acerbically,

15-"“That fills me with joy.”..Vice President Mike Pence, who spoke after Ms. Merkel in Munich, met stony silence when he tried to pressure allies to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, a sign of the continuing anger at Washington’s decision to scrap the deal unilaterally.

16-"European allies regard the pact as vital to European security and to the preservation of nuclear nonproliferation. Even more, the Europeans are angry that renewed American sanctions hurt European companies far more than any American ones..Mr. Pence, in his speech, praised

17-"Trump and what he called the restoration of American leadership of the West. But Europeans were not convinced. “It’s very odd to talk of American leadership of the alliance when it’s Trump who has caused the crisis,” said Marietje Schaake, a Dutch member of the European

18-"Parliament. “The Trump administration is seen by many Europeans as chiefly responsible for the tensions and the weakening of the West.”..The Europeans “are beginning to do what we should,” Ms. Tocci said — spend more on the military, discuss some sort of European army in

19-"coordination with NATO, think more strategically as Europe in the face of Russia and China. “But no one believes it’s doable in the short run,” she added, and many believe it’s not easily doable at all. Europeans are waiting for change in the White House, Ms. Tocci and others

20-"said...“In the post-Trump era, there is no return to the pre-Trump era,” he said. “The status quo was Europe’s security is guaranteed by the United States. That won’t happen again.”..“Trump does not understand the price he pays in strategic terms when he bashes his allies so

21-"publicly and openly,” Mr. Techau added. If there is any ambiguity, he said, Russia and China know that the security guarantee is no longer real. “When that protection goes,” he said, “then this strategic space is up for grabs.” Excerpts NYT, 2/17/19