Donald Trump's German grandparents may have known the word for what some European officials are feeling right now as they watch him complain about being let down by America's traditional allies: Schadenfreude (evil gloating - ed.).
After spending a year criticizing, insulting and threatening European leaders, Trump now sees the value of having friends in strategic places - if they have military assets he can use, writes "Politico".
The US-Israeli war against Iran would have been a lot easier in its early days if the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had not refused permission for US bombers to take off from British air bases, Trump complained this week. But Starmer is standing his ground, refusing to allow anything more than "defensive" operations from Royal Air Force facilities in Britain and abroad. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has also played hardball with Trump, condemning what he sees as an illegal operation in the Middle East, and similarly refusing to allow US planes to take off from airports under his control. Sanchez has incurred Trump's wrath as a result.
French President Emmanuel Macron - always the critical friend - has called war with Iran dangerous and warned that it is not in line with international law and cannot be supported.
The rift threatens to escalate into a major trade confrontation between the United States and the European Union, and the mythologized "special relationship" between Britain and America are on life support, as the 250th anniversary of US independence approaches.
"We are not dealing with Winston Churchill", Trump said, explaining his particular disappointment with Starmer.
Yesterday, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said that "the president expects all of Europe - all of our European allies, of course - to cooperate in this long-awaited mission, not only for the United States but for Europe, to crush the rogue Iranian regime, which not only threatens America but also our European allies".
She pointed out that Spain had already "agreed to cooperate" with the US military, but the Spanish government immediately denied the allegations.
The hardening of European leaders’ stance on Iran marks a turning point, just as US President George W. Bush’s ill-fated and divisive invasion of Iraq in 2003 undermined transatlantic trust for years. The tension over such a major new conflict in the Middle East could even prove existential for the Western alliance, after 12 months that had already strained US-European relations to the breaking point.
"I suspect President Trump didn’t try to get NATO support for the Iran war – maybe he didn’t think it was worth it," said Emily Thornberry, chair of the British parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a member of Starmer’s Labour Party. "I suspect he may now be learning a lesson about the value of having a broad base of allies".
Ghosts of Iraq
Trump's belligerent approach since returning to office in January 2025 has been hard to swallow for many European officials. He has reduced US support for Ukraine and tried to push Kiev into an unwanted and unbalanced peace deal; criticized "weak" EU leaders for failing to control immigration; demanded that Greenland be handed over to America; and now he is attacking Iran without even consulting key NATO allies.
Now that those allies are worried and unwilling to get involved, Trump and his MAGA staff are clearly no more lenient than Bush’s Republicans were when France refused to support the Iraq war two decades ago.
On Tuesday night, the president sharply criticized Sanchez’s government as “terrible” and “hostile” for its decision to ban US warplanes from using Spanish air bases to attack Iran and threatened to cut off all trade with the EU’s fourth-largest economy. Sanchez hit back yesterday, insisting he would not back down.
“We will not take a position that contradicts our values and principles for fear of reprisals from others,” he stressed in a televised address to the nation.
US tankers that had been stationed in Spain have been moving to other military bases in Europe since the start of the war with Iran. An official said some US tankers had been temporarily moved to France.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant on Wednesday lashed out at Madrid over its "extremely uncooperative" attitude towards American use of the bases, which he said would affect the US military's ability to conduct operations against Iran. "The Spanish are putting American lives at risk."
Some Europeans remain on Trump's good list. During a visit to the White House this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz received rave reviews from the US president after the Ramstein Air Base in Germany was handed over to US forces. "Germany did a great job. He was great," Trump said. "They allow us to land in certain areas and we appreciate that".
Trump made it clear that Washington does not want Germany to be directly involved in the fighting.
And what about Ukraine?
Even if Sanchez, Starmer and Macron - three of Europe's leading centrists - stand their ground despite American anger, European officials know that ultimately they still need the United States for their security.
Without the president's pressure, Russia is unlikely to sit down at the negotiating table to conclude a peace agreement with Ukraine; without American-made weapons, Ukraine would be in danger of defeat on the battlefield.
A European diplomat from another country expressed hope that more European leaders would follow Spain's example. "If we want international law, the rules-based order and any form of multilateralism to prevail, we must be able to express concern about American actions," the diplomat said. "What leverage will we have for Putin's war in Ukraine if Europe cannot express any objections to the US war on Iran? We will lose credibility." Some in the US have foreseen the risks. General Dan Kaine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned Trump that a war with Iran would be more dangerous without the support of key allies. In private talks, EU government officials have agreed. "Trump needs Europe for this," one noted.
Before the military offensive began, America's Gulf allies also urged Trump not to go to war with Iran, but he ignored them too.
No worries
According to a senior White House official, who was granted anonymity, Trump's expectation of full European support is not as unrealistic as some Europeans think. That's because the United States is still critically important to NATO.
"They admitted he was right about the costs," the official noted, referring to NATO members' pledge last year to increase defense budgets, prompted in large part by pressure from Trump. "We still do a lot for Europe".
The official also downplayed the impact of Trump's Greenland maneuver on broader transatlantic relations, saying "it's no longer a problem for us".
However, Europe's dependence on America has not been in doubt. What is new may be the realization in Washington that America is not as strong without its traditional alliances.
"A power that is sure of the reality and legitimacy of its own power does not treat people or other powers in this way," stressed Constance Stelzenmüller, an expert on Germany and transatlantic relations at the Brookings Institution, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.
"What Europeans are really worried about when we look at all this is American boasting and overreaching," Stelzenmüller explained. "The thought that we might be witnessing the self-destruction of American power - that is what I think really strikes fear in the minds of even the most critical allies". And there is much to fear.
Britain, France and Germany are among the European countries now sending warships and other assets to the Middle East. Their motive is to protect their own interests, for example by strengthening the defenses of Cyprus, where an Iranian drone struck a British air base.
But any military deployment on the brink of escalating war carries the risk that even "defensive" forces will be drawn into the fire. Then it will not only be American or Israeli lives that are at stake, one European diplomat warned. "And this is an important decision."