The “American friend” has never been friendly in the war between its defense companies and their European competitors. With the return of Donald Trump to the White House, détente is less on the agenda than ever. In the event of at least partial disengagement of the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the manufacturers of the Old Continent could have “opportunity” to regain market share, asked the Group of French Land and Airland Defense and Security Industries on January 15, during a conference organized in Paris.
The President of the Republic provided his response, Monday January 20, during his wishes to the armies. “Our vocation is not to be clients, but sovereign nations”warned Emmanuel Macron. The question was partly born from threats from Donald Trump: he refuses to allow his country to be the “cash cow” of NATO, which he finances 68% of; he asked Europeans to devote 5% of their wealth to defense, far from the 2% set by the Atlantic Alliance. “They can all afford it”assures the American president, even if such an effort has never been achieved, including during the Cold War, and would represent 125 billion euros per year for France.
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