US allies in Europe will need to keep taking more control of their own defence, even without US President Donald Trump in power, California governor Gavin Newsom told AFP on Friday.
“I think that’s permanent and I think actually healthy,” Newsom, widely seen as a potential Democrat frontrunner for the US presidential election in 2028, said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
“I think it’s in Europe’s self interest and I think it’s certainly, from the United States’ perspective, our self interest as well.”
Under intense pressure from Trump, European countries in NATO have pledged to massively ramp up their defence budgets out of concern that Russia could seek to expand into their territory.
Washington is demanding that Europe takes the lead in the conventional defence of the continent after decades of reliance on US military might.
The crisis last month over Trump’s demands to take possession of Greenland — a Danish territory — further undermined trust and spurred determination among European leaders to step up on defence.
Newsom, a fierce critic of Trump, said he didn’t “want to see Europe turn to the rest of the world and turn their back on the United States”, citing the European Union’s recent trade deals with South American countries and India.
“It’s going to take time to rebuild trust,” he said.
“We would have to show a resolve and commitment to rebuild the alliances and rebuild what this president is destroying in real time.
“But I’m deeply of the mind that that’s achievable and will happen.”
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