This is the single most telling clip of the Trump temperament in general but also his approach towards the EU/Europe in particular. This of course coupled with the dressing down of NATO members in Brussels. On the other hand the response of the Montenegro Prime Minister also speaks volumes of the European response to Trump. My advise for European leaders is to watch/replay the video (possibly in slow motion) to determine whether being pushed around by this new U.S. leadership is the right approach for what I would consider the only surviving protector of Liberal Democracy in the western world. Cooperation with the U.S. is important but as equal partners. I would also urge EU leaders to start taking more control of their defense both within & outside NATO.
Finally a brief comment about a recent press conference by Federica Mogherini the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR) about the new approach on sharing the burden of defense spending within the EU which is 50% less compared to US spending; in my mind this is a creative workaround rather than a straight forward resolution to the question of military expenditure – it may look good but I do not see that it truly solves much. There should be a more direct commitment by member states in some form to ensuring appropriate level of spending on defense; applying efficiencies as she suggested should be a pre-requisite for all budget spending from the outset with regular reviews to achieve this. However this is not what should be the thrust of the effort which is increased spending.