US Congress passed a defense bill reaffirming US commitment to Europe and NATO with bipartisan support on Wednesday, despite US President Donald Trump’s longtime America First rhetoric.
The US Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – with 77-20 lawmakers for and against the bill respectively.
As per AFP, Republican Senate Majority leader John Thune described the bill as one that would help US troops “keep America safe in a dangerous world.”
Despite including provisions which are apparently at odds with Trump’s policy position on Europe, the White House said that it would sign the bill into law if it passed Congress. To do otherwise would represent a significant break from tradition – the NDAA has passed every year since 1961.
The bill’s provisions
The bill allocates $400 million to Ukraine in each of the next two years under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (which buys weapons for Ukraine from US companies.)
The bill authorizes a sixth year of the Baltic Security Initiative – a US-funded program focused primarily on training Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian troops and deterring Russian aggression – despite a number of reports that Trump was planning to shelve it.
Perhaps even more significantly, the bill prevents the US government from reducing the number of US troops in Europe to less than 76,000 for more than 45 days or removing major military equipment from the continent, effectively writing America’s presence into law.
And, should Trump wish to hand supreme command of NATO back to Europe, the bill includes a provision requiring detailed consultations with allies and Congress.
Trump’s stance on NATO
The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy, published this November, made it clear that US support for Europe under his administration was not set in stone. The document condemned Europe’s broadly dominant liberal politics, made no mention of a threat from Russia, and echoed the Kremlin talking point that European leaders are undermining peace efforts in Ukraine.
Trump’s strategy was even met with approval in Moscow – with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov describing it as “broadly consistent with our vision.”
In this context, the NDAA will likely draw a sigh of relief from European and NATO leaders, who have been scrambling to adapt to a world in which Europe cannot rely on the US for its defense since Trump was re-elected.
Senator Roger Wicker, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also applauded the bill’s passage.
“Not since the era of World War II has our nation faced an axis of aggressors across multiple theaters seeking to dismantle American influence. The bill we now send to the president’s desk is a reflection of that reality and an appropriate response,” he said.