Three American Speeches at Munich, and Plenty of Confusion

As the U.S. message veered from shared heritage and values to shared interests and back again, Europeans wondered what kind of alliance they were left with.

By Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger

Is Trumpism losing steam?

As Trumpism forces both major US parties to wonder what they stand for, experts weigh in on November election prospects.

Offer to join Trump’s new era is met with growing sense of European steeliness

Talk of a stronger, independent Europe was the dominant mood in Munich amid bitter disagreement on Ukraine

By Patrick Wintour in Munich

Offer to join Trump’s new era is met with growing sense of European steeliness

Talk of a stronger, independent Europe was the dominant mood in Munich amid bitter disagreement on Ukraine If JD Vance’s thuggish speech to last year’s Munich Security Conference, directed at the solar plexus of Europe, marked the moment when a transatlantic breakup started, this weekend’s conference, in a rainy and cold Bavaria, was where the debate about the terms of the divorce settlement got under way. Marco Rubio, the chosen Washington representative this year, is a diplomat, so he softened the Trumpian tone with references to German beer, the Beatles, Dante and the Mayflower. But his speech was a stern warning that if Europe wanted to continue on its path of civilisational decline, as this US administration sees it, America would not be interested and has different hemispheres on which to focus. Continue reading...

By Patrick Wintour in Munich

Europe’s Reaction to Rubio: Relief, Up to a Point

The secretary of state was much less caustic in Munich than Vice President JD Vance was a year ago. But European officials said his core message was much the same.

By Jeanna Smialek

In Munich, Rubio Stresses Shared History to Europeans but Warns of ‘Civilizational Erasure’

In his speech at the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced some far-right ideas, but his diplomatic tone came as a relief to the audience.

By Edward Wong

Rubio says US and Europe 'belong together' despite tensions

The US secretary of state reassures European leaders that the Trump administration backs the transatlantic alliance.

Rubio says U.S., Europe ‘belong together,’ despite rifts over Trump policies

While some saw the remarks as reassuring, key European leaders renewed calls for more independence from the U.S. amid tensions over issues like Greenland and Ukraine.

By John Hudson, Ellen Francis

At Munich Summit, European Leaders Agree With Trump: The Old World Order Is Over

At the Munich Security Conference, U.S. officials softened their tone but not their message: Europe should pay its own way. European leaders increasingly agree.

By Steven Erlanger

German Officials Needle Trump at Munich Security Conference

Friedrich Merz, the chancellor of Germany, said that under President Trump, the United States’ claim to global leadership “has been challenged, and possibly squandered.”

By Jim Tankersley