"The US cannot be the world's policeman; Europe has to fend for itself," warns J.D. Vance
J.D. Vance reminded NATO members that the US cannot assume the role of policeman of the world and urged them to be more committed to their security
James David Vance, US Vice President, urged US allies to strengthen their defense plan and not cede most of that responsibility to Washington, as the Trump administration will now focus more on prioritizing the security of its citizens.
During a press conference held at the White House replacing Karoline Leavitt, press secretary, the Ohio Republican addressed the issue of the military rotation that the United States is carrying out, especially in Europe, which generated some uncertainty in some member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), such as Germany, Italy and Poland.
"The United States cannot be the world's policeman. We want to be good allies. We want to ensure that our military presence promotes regional stability in Europe. The president has not said, although he could, that he is going to withdraw all troops from Europe, but Europe has to fend for itself," he said.
The comments from the second most important man in the White House arose as a result of a disagreement that arose between President Donald Trump and Friedrich Merz, German Chancellor, which led the Republican to order the departure of 5,000 US military personnel from Bavarian territory.
In addition, the New York magnate also threatened the possibility of reducing the number of soldiers deployed in Italy and Spain.
“Probably… why shouldn't I?”, and harshly criticized both countries. “Italy has not been of any help to us and Spain has been horrible, absolutely horrible,” stated the head of the nation with respect to the solidarity he hoped to obtain in the war conflict developed against Iran since February 28.
However, Vance tried to qualify Trump's statements by stating that this is due to a rotation of US troops and not their permanent withdrawal from the Old Continent.
"The troops could go anywhere else in Europe; we could decide to send them somewhere else. We haven't actually made the final decision yet on where those troops will go, but what I want to say is that it is not accurate to say that we are withdrawing a large number of troops," he emphasized.