Merkel Says Europe Shouldn’t Rely on U.S. or U.K.: About Time She Figured It Out

Now that Angela Merkel has figured out that the United States isn’t big brother to Europe and Europe isn’t big brother to the United States, we can finally start to deal with each other on equal terms.

It’s a moment that’s been in the making for a long time.

We’re also seeing the difference in between an Omega leader and an Alpha leader, in terms of President Obama and President Trump’ s leadership styles.  Obama meekly went along with the crowd, while Trump won’t tuck tail and submit to European groupthink. 

I suspect Trump will keep the U.S. in the Paris Accords, but he’ll insist on stringent new conditions and exemptions in return for the U.S. honoring the treaty.   I also think that he will submit the treaty to the Senate for ratification, which is what should have happened years ago, but Obama chose not to out of fear that the GOP-controlled Senate would (rightly) reject it.

Merkel’s frustration with Trump is a very good sign; his speech calling on NATO members to pay their fair share was dead-on too.  It’s too bad it seemed to fall on deaf European ears, but hopefully they’ll come around.

There’s too much evil in the world for NATO to confront without having to deal with a budget shortfall created by its own members.