In the current trans-Atlantic confrontation between over a wide range of issues, there is a sentiment of powerlessness on the European side. “No one is going to fight the U.S. militarily over the future of Greenland,” Stephen Miller, a top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, proclaimed in a recent CNN interview.
Though smug, Miller’s comment puts the matter in its starkest terms. Whether the disagreement is over tariffs, the regulation of U.S. tech giants or the Trump administration’s threat to annex a semi-autonomous territory of an allied NATO state, when push comes to shove, Washington holds two important trump cards: America’s military power and the role it plays in Europe’s security.
The U.S. possesses the most powerful military in the world, by far. It currently spends almost $1 trillion per year on its defense budget, and Trump wants to increase that amount by another $500 billion. That compares to roughly $410 billion for all the European Union’s member states combined. The U.S. has 263 military satellites, while Europe has 44, and the 500-plus nuclear warheads that France and the U.K. possess pale in comparison to America’s 3,700.