“America First” is the motto of US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.Image: EPA CNP / POOL
Dec 7, 2025, 9:04 p.mDec 7, 2025, 9:04 p.m
With its new security strategy, the US government has tightened its stance towards Europe and increased the pressure on its allies. Previous strategies did not take into account the core national interests of the USA and placed the defense of other countries on the shoulders of the US population, according to the document in which the USA defines its foreign and security policy guidelines. Now “America First” applies – the USA first.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth made it clear on Saturday what this new US line means for its partners with a view to national defense spending. “Exemplary allies who are increasing their numbers, such as Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltic states and others, will receive our special favor,” he emphasized at the Reagan National Defense Forum in the US state of California.
Those who still do not do their part in collective defense must face consequences, said the US Secretary of Defense, who now calls himself Secretary of War. US President Donald Trump is happy to help countries that would help themselves, said Hegseth.
US criticism of Europe is causing tensions
In its strategy paper published on Thursday, the USA paints a bleak picture of the situation in Europe. According to the US government, Europe’s problems include immigration policy, “censorship of free expression and the suppression of political opposition, plummeting birth rates and the loss of national identity and self-confidence.” A course correction is necessary, the document said. Criticism immediately came from European countries.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul speaks during a press conference with his Jordanian counterpart at the Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany, November 25, 2025.Image: keystone
The German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) said about the critical statements about freedom of expression that he “doesn’t believe that anyone has to give us advice on this.” Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission also rejected the allegations against the EU.
The EU foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas tried to smooth things over on Saturday. “The US is still our greatest ally,” Kallas said at the Doha Forum, an annual diplomatic conference in Qatar. Despite differences on various issues between the USA and Europe, the “general principle” still applies: “We are the closest allies and should stick together.”
USA accuses Europe of double standards
But the attacks from Washington did not stop over the weekend. In a post on Platform If these states had their “NATO hat” on, they would insist on the importance of transatlantic cooperation, wrote Landau. With their “EU hat” they simultaneously pursued political agendas “that are often completely contrary to the interests and security of the USA”.
The USA could no longer ignore this contradiction, Landau wrote. “We cannot pretend to be partners while these nations allow the EU’s unelected, undemocratic and unrepresentative bureaucracy in Brussels to pursue a policy of civilizational suicide.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov.Image: sda
Russia applauds
However, praise for the new US security strategy came from Russia. “The change in the US national security strategy by President Donald Trump’s administration, which no longer mentions Russia as a direct threat, is a positive step,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state news agency Tass. The Trump administration’s message for Russian-American relations differs from the approaches of previous administrations. The Kremlin will closely examine the updated US strategy.
Although the US government describes an end to the war in Ukraine as a central interest in the strategy paper, there are hardly any critical words for Russia. An end to hostilities is necessary “to stabilize European economies and prevent an inadvertent escalation or expansion of the war.” “Strategic stability” must be established with Russia. (sda/dpa)