In the lead-up to this week’s Nato summit, European capitals have been struggling to get a straight answer from Washington: is the US planning to pull any of its troops and weapons out of Europe, or not?
For eight decades, the might of the American military has provided the bedrock of Europe’s defence — and a pledge from the White House to defend all of its Nato allies on the continent has represented the ultimate security guarantee.
President Donald Trump, who before Saturday’s bombing of Iran had been due to attend the summit in The Hague, has placed a price on Nato’s future: each ally must spend 5 per cent of their GDP on defence. This commitment also applies to the US.