Breakup of the West? by Pat Buchanan.

Trump also seems less committed to the sanctions on Russia for its reannexation of Ukraine and support of pro-Russian rebels in the Donbass than does NATO Europe or Congress.

From his rough remarks, Trump sees the Europeans as freeloaders on U.S. defense, laggards on their NATO contributions, and mercantilists who craft policies to run endless trade surpluses at our expense, especially the Germans who are “bad, very bad.”

The European half of Trump’s trip should be taken as a fire-bell-in-the-night warning: Shape up, Europe, or you may find yourselves on your own when it comes to the defense of your continent.

Before the Euro, the Europeans subsidized the US by buying US dollars and using them for trading. But that has long since ceased, as the Europeans set up the Euro in competition to the US dollar for international trading.

hat-tip Stephen Neil