Trump’s NATO warnings jolt Europe into rethinking defense

Turkish navy soldiers descend from a Sikorsky helicopter as part of the NATO Dynamic Mariner/Flotex-25 naval exercise in Barbate, southern Spain, on March 28, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 28 April 2025
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Trump’s NATO warnings jolt Europe into rethinking defense

  • Trump has accused NATO allies of spending too little on their own defense
  • Europe-wide, industry leaders and experts have pointed out challenges the continent must overcome to be a truly self-sufficient military power

MADRID: Inside a sprawling hangar in Spain, workers bolt together a fuselage for European aerospace giant Airbus, which churns out jets and other military equipment.
The multinational conglomerate is a rarity in Europe’s defense industry, backed by Spain, Germany, France and Britain. The norm for defense industries on the continent is big-name national champions and hundreds of small companies mostly working to fill orders for state governments.
That piecemeal paradigm could hinder Europe’s plan for spending more on defense, which has been given a jolt — and previously unimaginable political backing — following US President Donald Trump’s threats to not protect NATO allies in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
For years, Trump has accused NATO allies of spending too little on their own defense. In recent months, the chasm in trans-Atlantic ties has grown. The Trump administration has signaled that US priorities lie beyond Europe and Ukraine and that the time has come “for Europe to stand on its own feet.”
The shortfall in defense spending is most evident is Spain.
Last year, it trailed all NATO allies in defense spending as a share of GDP, forcing the country to play catch-up this year to reach the alliance’s 2 percent spending goal. NATO leaders are expected to again increase that goal this summer.
Europe-wide, industry leaders and experts have pointed out challenges the continent must overcome to be a truly self-sufficient military power, chiefly its decades-long reliance on the US as well as its fragmented defense industry.
“Europe procures a majority of its defense material outside of Europe, and that’s really something we have to depart from,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, head of air power at Airbus Defense and Space at the aircraft maker’s factory outside Madrid. “The journey until we get full autonomy is a long journey, but it has to be started.”
Moving out of Washington’s shadow
The pro-defense shift in Europe can be seen in the stock markets, where major European arms makers such as BAE Systems (UK), Leonardo (Italy), Rheinmetall (Germany), Thales (France) and Saab (Sweden) have all been on the rise despite recent turmoil caused by Trump’s tariffs.
European companies are poised to benefit from a push by European Union policy makers to ensure that as many euros as possible end up in European companies, as opposed to flowing across the Atlantic. The challenge is daunting, but not as scary as having to face a potential military threat without American help.
One question is: How quickly can production scale up?
An EU white paper published last month bluntly stated that Europe’s defense industry is not able to produce defense systems and equipment sufficient for what member states need. It noted where much of the bloc’s spending has taken place: the US
Europe has relied on the US not just for military equipment but also intelligence, surveillance and even software updates. Supply chain complexities mean that European-made equipment often use software or other components built and even operated by US companies.
Airbus’ A330 MRTT air-to-air refueling plane, made outside Madrid, is an example of specialized equipment called enablers that Europe largely lacks.
Another example is Sweden’s Gripen fighter made by Saab, which has an engine made by American firm General Electric, noted Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher at the Stockholm Peace Research Institute who studies Europe’s arms industry.
According to a recent SIPRI report, more than half of Europe’s arms imports from 2020 to 2024 came from the US
Changing this paradigm will take years of sustained investment, Scarazzato said, and common vision across the bloc. “It’s going to be a massive overhaul of the whole command and control structure.”
A fragmented industry
A fragmented defense industry in Europe reduces the interoperability of equipment, experts say, and makes it harder to build economies of scale.
For example, there are at least 12 types of tanks produced across the 27-nation EU, compared to just one used by the US military, according to the European Defense Agency.
But there have been some recent positive developments in the private sector, the International Institute for Strategic Studies noted in its 2025 Military Balance report. Leonardo and Rheinmetall started a joint venture last year for combat vehicles.
Europe’s capitals have historically looked to spend on their own local industries — not neighboring ones — to ensure jobs and feed national pride ingrained in manufacturing military hardware, said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at IISS.
“The fundamental economic heft is there. Partly it’s a question of political will, partly the question of national pride and national identities,” Barrie said. “While politicians can kind of advocate for consolidation, it has to be driven by individuals within industry, and it will be the industrialists who will see a logic in this.”
The urge for European governments to favor local manufacturers — instead of shopping among other European companies for better value — was evident this month when Spain announced that it will raise defense spending by an additional 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) this year.
The government said 87 percent of that money would go to Spanish companies in the hopes of generating nearly 100,000 direct and indirect jobs and boosting Spain’s GDP by 0.4 to 0.7 percentage points.
“Every time there is a political interest in consolidation, that’s what you bump into,” Barrie said.
Hope for the future?

The European Commission is offering 150 billion euros ($170 billion) for member states and Ukraine to buy air defense systems, drones and strategic enablers like air transport, as well as to boost cybersecurity.
It’s part of a package of measures that include easing budgetary rules for defense spending and reshuffling EU funds to reflect security priorities.
Under the proposals, member states will be invited to buy at least 40 percent of defense equipment “by working together” and trade at least 35 percent of defense goods between EU countries, as opposed to outside ones, by 2030.
Airbus’ Dumont said his message for Europe’s leaders was clear.
“Europe has to fund its European industry to prepare the defense of tomorrow, for the day after tomorrow and for the years to come. And that’s what we see happening now.”


Mississippi executes the longest-serving man on the state’s death row for 1976 killing

Updated 26 June 2025
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Mississippi executes the longest-serving man on the state’s death row for 1976 killing

  • Jordan was one of several on the state’s death row who sued the state over its three-drug execution protocol, claiming it is inhumane

PARCHMAN, Mississippi: The longest-serving man on Mississippi’s death row was executed Wednesday, nearly five decades after he kidnapped and killed a bank loan officer’s wife in a violent ransom scheme.
Richard Gerald Jordan, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, was put to death by lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. The time of death was 6:16 p.m.
Jordan was one of several on the state’s death row who sued the state over its three-drug execution protocol, claiming it is inhumane.
The execution was the third in the state in the last 10 years; previously the most recent one was carried out in December 2022.
Jordan’s execution came a day after a man was put to death in Florida, in what is shaping up to be a year with the most executions since 2015.
Jordan, whose final appeals were denied without comment Wednesday afternoon by the US Supreme Court, was sentenced to death in 1976 for killing and kidnapping Edwina Marter.
Mississippi Supreme Court records show that in January of that year, Jordan called the Gulf National Bank in Gulfport and asked to speak with a loan officer. After he was told that Charles Marter could speak to him, he hung up. He then looked up the Marters’ home address in a telephone book and kidnapped Edwina Marter.
According to court records, Jordan took her to a forest and fatally shot her before calling her husband, claiming she was safe and demanding $25,000.
Edwina Marter’s husband and two sons had not planned to attend the execution. Eric Marter, who was 11 when his mother was killed, said beforehand that other family members would attend.
“It should have happened a long time ago,” Eric Marter told The Associated Press before the execution. “I’m not really interested in giving him the benefit of the doubt.”
“He needs to be punished,” Marter said.
As of the beginning of the year, Jordan was one of 22 people sentenced in the 1970s who were still on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
His execution ended a decades-long court process that included four trials and numerous appeals. On Monday the Supreme Court rejected a petition that argued he was denied due process rights.
“He was never given what for a long time the law has entitled him to, which is a mental health professional that is independent of the prosecution and can assist his defense,” said lawyer Krissy Nobile, director of Mississippi’s Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, who represented Jordan. “Because of that his jury never got to hear about his Vietnam experiences.”
A recent petition asking Gov. Tate Reeves for clemency echoed Nobile’s claim. It said Jordan suffered severe PTSD after serving three back-to-back tours, which could have been a factor in his crime.
“His war service, his war trauma, was considered not relevant in his murder trial,” said Franklin Rosenblatt, president of the National Institute of Military Justice, who wrote the petition on Jordan’s behalf. “We just know so much more than we did 10 years ago, and certainly during Vietnam, about the effect of war trauma on the brain and how that affects ongoing behaviors.”
Marter said he does not buy that argument: “I know what he did. He wanted money, and he couldn’t take her with him. And he — so he did what he did.”


Ukraine, European rights body sign accord for tribunal on Russian aggression

Updated 26 June 2025
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Ukraine, European rights body sign accord for tribunal on Russian aggression

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed the accord in the French city of Strasbourg at the Council’s headquarters

Ukraine and the Council of Europe human rights body signed an agreement on Wednesday forming the basis for a special tribunal intended to bring to justice senior Russian officials for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset signed the accord in the French city of Strasbourg at the Council’s headquarters.
“This is truly a very important step. Every war criminal must know there will be justice and that includes Russia. We are now boosting the legal work in a serious way,” Zelensky told the ceremony.
“There is still a long road ahead. Today’s agreement is just the beginning. We must take real steps to make it work. It will take strong political and legal cooperation to make sure every Russian war criminal faces justice, including (President Vladimir) Putin.”
Ukraine has demanded the creation of such a body since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, accusing Russian troops of committing thousands of war crimes. It is also intent on prosecuting Russians for orchestrating the invasion.
The 46-member Council of Europe, set up after World War Two to uphold human rights and the rule of law, approved the tribunal in May, saying it was intended to be complementary to the International Criminal Court and fill legal gaps in prosecutions.
The ICC has issued an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.


US military to create two new border zones, officials say

Updated 26 June 2025
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US military to create two new border zones, officials say

  • A new “National Defense Area” will be created covering about 250 miles (402 km) of the Rio Grande river in Texas

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon will create two new military zones along the border with Mexico, US officials said on Wednesday, a move that allows troops to temporarily detain migrants or trespassers. President Donald Trump’s administration has hailed its actions along the border, including the deployment of active duty troops, as the reason for a sharp decline in crossings by undocumented migrants. Trump made voters’ concerns about immigration a cornerstone of his 2024 re-election bid.
The Pentagon has already created two military zones, but only four people have been temporarily detained on them, a US official said.
A new “National Defense Area” will be created covering about 250 miles (402 km) of the Rio Grande river in Texas and administered as a part of Joint Base San Antonio, according to the Air Force.
The US officials said the other military zone would be administered as a part of Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona.
The zones are intended to allow the Trump administration to use troops to detain migrants without invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act that empowers a president to deploy the US military to suppress events such as civil disorder.
As legal deterrents to border crossers, the zones have had mixed results. Federal magistrate judges in New Mexico and Texas dismissed trespassing charges against dozens of migrants caught in the areas on grounds they did not know they were in a restricted military zone.
However, some 120 migrants pleaded guilty to trespassing in the first Texas zone in May and federal prosecutors obtained their first two trespassing convictions for the New Mexico zone on June 18, according to US Attorneys’ Offices in the two states.
Around 11,900 troops are currently on the border.
Illegal border crossings fell to a record low in March after the Biden administration shut down asylum claims in 2024 and Mexico tightened immigration controls.


Palestinian student sues Michigan school over teacher’s reaction to her refusal to stand for Pledge

Updated 26 June 2025
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Palestinian student sues Michigan school over teacher’s reaction to her refusal to stand for Pledge

  • Danielle “suffered extensive emotional and social injuries,” including nightmares, stress and strained friendships, the lawsuit says

DETROIT: The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of a 14-year-old student who said a teacher humiliated her for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in protest of US support of Israel’s war in Gaza.
Danielle Khalaf’s teacher told her, “Since you live in this country and enjoy its freedom, if you don’t like it, you should go back to your country,” according to the lawsuit.
Danielle, whose family is of Palestinian descent, declined to recite the Pledge over three days in January.
“We can only marvel at the conviction and incredible courage it took for her to follow her conscience and her heart,” ACLU attorney Mark Fancher said.
The lawsuit says her teacher admonished her and told her she was being disrespectful.
As a result, Danielle “suffered extensive emotional and social injuries,” including nightmares, stress and strained friendships, the lawsuit says.
The ACLU and the Arab American Civil Rights League said Danielle’s First Amendment rights were violated, and the lawsuit seeks a financial award.
“It was traumatizing, it hurt and I know she could do that to other people,” Danielle said at a news conference in February, referring to the teacher’s treatment.
At that time, the school district said it had taken “appropriate action,” though it didn’t elaborate.
“Discrimination in any form is not tolerated by Plymouth-Canton Community Schools and is taken very seriously,” the district said.
The school district declined Wednesday to comment further, citing the litigation.
Michigan has more than 300,000 residents of Middle Eastern or North African descent, second in the US behind California, according to the Census Bureau.


Suspect in US fire attack on Jewish protest faces new hate crime charges

Updated 26 June 2025
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Suspect in US fire attack on Jewish protest faces new hate crime charges

  • Alongside the newly announced federal charges, Soliman faces 28 attempted murder charges

LOS ANGELES, United States: The suspect in a Molotov cocktail attack on a march by Jewish protesters in Colorado will face an additional 12 charges for carrying out a hate crime, the US Justice Department said Wednesday.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national, already faces over 100 criminal counts for allegedly throwing firebombs and spraying burning gasoline at a group of people who gathered on June 1 in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
President Donald Trump cited the attack, which injured 15 people, to justify his decision to ban travel from 12 countries to the United States to “protect” the nation from “foreign terrorists.”
Authorities have said Soliman, 45, was in the United States illegally at the time of the incident as he had overstayed his tourist visa.
Alongside the newly announced federal charges, Soliman faces 28 attempted murder charges as well as a bevvy of other counts relating to his alleged use of violence.
He also faces a count of animal cruelty for a dog that was hurt.
Police who rushed to the scene of the attack found 16 unused Molotov cocktails and a backpack weed sprayer containing gasoline that investigators say Soliman had intended to use as a makeshift flamethrower.
In bystander videos, the attacker can be heard screaming “End Zionists!” and “Killers!“
It came less than two weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington, where a 31-year-old suspect, who shouted “Free Palestine,” was arrested.