Americans can’t pretend that the European Union’s attempt on Monday to blackmail Elon Musk (threatening to punish him if he didn’t cancel a scheduled interview with President Donald Trump about X) doesn’t threaten to fundamentally change America’s relationship with its long-standing European allies.
Of the 27 member states of the European Union, 22 are also members of NATO, benefiting from the U.S. security umbrella and the U.S. obligation under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty to come to their defense if attacked.
How can we ignore that 22 European allies, acting through the EU, are interfering in our own presidential elections and trying to influence their outcome?
This applies to Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
This is not necessarily a good deal for the United States, which has long shouldered a disproportionate share of Europe’s security burden.
The same 22 nations dominate the European Union and certainly have some restraining power.
These countries (which control the EU) attempted to use the EU’s regulatory powers over US companies to influence the US presidential election, based on the absurd argument that the EU must act to protect EU citizens from misinformation.
They tried to help Kamala Harris by depriving Donald Trump of an opportunity that was offered to both him and Harris (but Trump accepted and Harris declined): a live interview with Elon Musk on X, one of the few American news channels that is not “all in” for Harris.
How can we ignore that 22 European allies, acting through the EU, are trying to interfere in the US presidential elections and influence the outcome? When they risk American blood and treasure in compliance with NATO obligations, that must mean something. At the very least, it must mean that they will not coerce US companies into interfering in the presidential elections.
What do you think this means for the future of NATO and U.S. engagement?
The US’s often unrequited security assistance to these European allies makes it easier for them to use the funds for other things, such as funding exorbitant welfare state programs and the EU, which is now being used as a weapon against the US to influence US presidential elections.
Good things were happening in Europe: we pay for their security (more than we need to), so they can do whatever they want.
That “whatever they want” attitude culminated on Monday when EU Commissioner Thierry Breton tried to get Musk to help Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump, and the EU has now angered at least half of American voters (hopefully more than half, as this should also annoy Democrats).
Imagine what would have happened if the EU had tried to do this four years ago to help Donald Trump and hurt Joe Biden. I know it will never happen, but imagine the outcry if it had. The media would have been outraged and indignant about this. They would have said very little about anything else.
But what are the mainstream media saying about this? Essentially nothing.
Now is a good time for Americans, regardless of what they may or may not be hearing from the media (and regardless of their political ideology), to pause and consider what this outrageous act by the EU means for America and our interests in Europe.
If the EU’s attempts to extort money from US companies in order to influence the US presidential election is not a reason to reevaluate our relationships with our European allies, I don’t know what is.
