Ready or not, Europe’s post-American future has arrived

BERLIN—What will Europe be like without a US military and political presence? Europeans had better start preparing themselves for this eventuality, because there is no longer any doubt that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to end the North Atlantic alliance and is well on his way to doing so. The only remaining question is whether he will formally withdraw the United States from NATO, or simply hollow it out through neglect and contempt. Either way, the alliance’s dissolution has already begun. Arrangements as long-standing and as tested as NATO usually do not collapse in a single day or through a single act. Rather, they erode as trust in their defining commitments—namely, mutual defense—diminishes. That is precisely what has been happening during Trump’s second presidency, especially now that Europeans have refrained from joining his disastrous war of choice in the Middle East. Meanwhile, despite the Republican Party’s supposed dedication to maintaining a strong U.S. defense, no major figure in the party has called Trump out on the irreversible damage he has done. Throug

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