Europeans fear that expected losses of the US Republican Party in the midterm elections could prompt President Donald Trump to weaken NATO by withdrawing additional American troops from Europe, a report says.
Citing at least five unnamed NATO diplomats, American political digital newspaper POLITICO reported on Monday that possible GOP losses could push Trump to take dramatic steps to weaken the transatlantic alliance.
These steps, according to the diplomats, include moving closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, withdrawal of additional American troops from Europe and a reduction of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
In case of the expected losses for the Republican Party and if the GOP loses control of both chambers of Congress to Democrats, Trump – now turned into a lame duck president - will have little power to carry out his plans at home and may then turn to taking radical action on foreign policy, where he enjoys more freedom, as he still retains huge executive authority over foreign policy, including diplomacy, military deployments and certain unilateral actions.
“Usually what happens to lame duck presidents is a mix of venting frustrations and adventurism in foreign policy,” said one senior European defense official, warning that weakening NATO “seems to be a consistent part of [the] Trump worldview.”
“He could be very pissed off,” said one of the NATO diplomats, adding, if so, “he'll be very harsh.”
Three of the diplomats warned that midterm losses may push the crestfallen president to pull out thousands of American troops from Europe, as a six-month Pentagon review of the US force posture in Europe is set to be completed next month.
Back in February, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby emphasized that European countries need to shoulder primary responsibility for Europe’s defense.
In May, the Pentagon also sparked controversy by announcing the withdrawal of 5,000 US troops from Europe.
A month later, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the time of what he called European nations “freeriding” off the US is over.
“If Trump is blocked from legislating domestically, he may seek to significantly increase the scope of that pullback to rally his MAGA base,” three of the diplomats told POLITICO.
According to the report, further US troop withdrawals could harm NATO's electronic warfare capabilities, air defense systems, intelligence and reconnaissance support, aerial refueling, and some types of logistics.
The US president recently impeded Ukraine’s access to the Starlink satellite system, through which Ukrainian forces guide drones to shoot down Russian missiles and drones and to attack Russian forces.
Trump has also expressed anger over Ukraine's continued attacks on Russian oil refineries amid heightened energy prices resulting from his war on Iran and Tehran’s closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
“There is a risk that all these things – the US force posture review, Ukraine, European security order … somehow are treated as part of a much bigger deal with Putin,” said Oana Lungescu, a former NATO official.
These are “creating a very dangerous situation for security in Europe,” she added.
The diplomats expressed fear that a lame duck Trump could cut contributions to NATO common funding, place limitations on NATO's PURL program to purchase arms for Ukraine, and further expand ties with Russia.
The GOP’s possible defeat at the midterms could also lead Democrats to target Hegseth, with probes into his firing of dozens of generals and admirals and execution of the war on the Islamic Republic, which has now stalled.
In response to the POLITICO report, White House Assistant Press Secretary Olivia Wales stated,” President Trump has done more for NATO than anyone else.”
Trump has already secured commitments from NATO member states to increase defense spending to five percent of GDP by 2035.
“The President will never settle for the West's managed decline and will continue to unapologetically advance our interests at home and abroad,” POLITICO quoted White House Assistant Press Secretary Olivia Wales as saying.
Separately on Monday, the findings of a nationwide poll in the United States, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos, showed that Trump’s approval rating stands at only 32 percent.
The survey of 1,765 American adults revealed that 50 percent of registered independent voters would vote against Trump. In contrast, 13 percent said their vote was for him.
Among those polled, 33 percent said the US president did not influence the vote they were going to cast.
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