Why Europe looks at Trump’s VP pick with anxiety

CNN —

Many of America’s closest allies were already dreading the prospect of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Now that the former president has picked JD Vance as his running mate, they potentially have a lot more to worry about.

By choosing Vance, Trump has sent a clear signal that, if elected, his America-first foreign policy will be back in force.

Vance, a junior senator for Ohio, is a staunch critic of sending support to Ukraine as it tries to defend itself against Russia. Like Trump, he has repeatedly criticized NATO and its European members for not spending enough on defense. And he has made a number of comments that have raised eyebrows across the pond – including when he said the United Kingdom would become the “first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon” under the new Labour government.

His nomination puts an end to the hopes by some of America’s allies that Trump might soften his foreign policy stance if reelected.

That hope was fueled by Trump himself. While he has often repeated his claim that he “would end the war” in Ukraine in one day if reelected and said he would not send any more money to Kyiv, he stopped short of getting his allies in Congress to block the $61 billion aid package approved earlier this year.

Ukrainian servicemen of the 148th Separate Artillery Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, prepare a M777 howitzer before fire toward Russian troops near a front line, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

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“He could have told members (of the Congress) not to vote for it and instead he tacitly allowed