At the Munich Leaders Meeting in Washington DC, Vice President JD Vance emphasized strong U.S.-Europe ties, calling it “ridiculous” to suggest a divide. “We have to be—and we are—on the same civilizational team,” he said, stressing that U.S. foreign policy should be both transactional and principled. Vance called for “European burden-sharing on the defense side” and a joint rethink of global security priorities. He backed President Trump’s push for NATO countries to spend 5 percent on defense, noting Europe has “some catching up to do.”
.@VP: "I do still very much think that the United States and Europe are on the same team... European civilization and American civilization — European culture and American culture — are very much linked... Obviously, there's a big question about what that means in the 21st… pic.twitter.com/CD7kBLIqRQ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 7, 2025
Vance urged deeper trade cooperation, asking the EU to lower tariffs and open markets to U.S. goods, including military tech. “We’d like a lot of European markets to be open to American goods,” he said. He welcomed Europe’s defense expansion and emphasized friendship: “We’ve got to talk about the big questions.”
