FALLING APART

President Macron: Trump Is Causing the ‘Brain Death’ of NATO

French president says Trump’s U.S. is showing signs of “turning its back on us” like it did with the Kurds, and NATO may not survive.

Emmanuel Macron has warned his European allies that they can no longer rely on the U.S. to defend NATO members, saying that the defense alliance is currently going through its “brain death.” The French president told The Economist that Europe is on “the edge of a precipice” and that, if it doesn't act as one bloc, it will “no longer be in control of our destiny.” Asked if he believed in the effectiveness of Article Five—the pact that if one NATO member is attacked all the others would come to its aid—Macron replied: “I don’t know ... but what will Article Five mean tomorrow?” He went on to say that President Donald Trump’s U.S. is showing signs of “turning its back on us” as it did with the surprise withdrawal of military forces and abandonment of its Kurdish allies last month, and added: “I’d argue that we should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States.”