EU Officials Admit Europe Will Actually Have To Kick More Cash Toward Its Own Defenses Once Trump Returns

Officials from France and Germany conceded Wednesday that Europe will need to spend more on its own defenses now that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is set to return to power, according to Politico EU.

Trump beat out Vice President Kamala Harris in the U.S. Tuesday presidential elections by wide margins and will take the Oval Office in January. If she had won, Harris would have likely taken President Joe Biden’s seemingly no-holds-barred approach to Europe, especially on security collaboration — but with Trump, officials from France and Germany believe that Europe must do more to stay in his good graces, especially on defense spending, according to Politico EU.

“With the new U.S. president’s political outlook diverging from that of his predecessors, we need to manage this situation, prepare for it and underline the efforts we are already making,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters on Wednesday following a meeting with French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

Part of that calculus stems from the likelihood that the U.S.’ “attention” will shift toward dealing with threats in the Indo-Pacific and China, Pistorius said. “By doing so, they’ll be able to do less in Europe. We need to fill this gap to be more credible in terms of deterrence.”

China is rapidly expanding its military and has become increasingly hostile toward U.S. allies, such as Taiwan and the Philippines, in the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S. has become increasingly concerned that Chinese aggression will become a flashpoint