Is It Time To Shut Down The U.S. Military Bases In Europe?

-Analysis-

On February 21, 1966, in a solemn press conference at the Elysée Palace, President Charles de Gaulle announced France’s withdrawal from NATO’s military command. Formally, Paris remained within the Atlantic Alliance but reclaimed its military independence, shutting down NATO bases scattered across the country. It was an epoch-defining shift.

Within a year, 100,000 Americans, soldiers and their families, left France, which was determined to assert its sovereignty, newly empowered by its development of nuclear capability.

In the decades that followed, tensions between Washington and Paris occasionally flared, particularly over the Vietnam War, but no major rupture occurred. In fact, in the early 1980s, Socialist President François Mitterrand staunchly supported the deployment of American Pershing missiles in Western Europe to counter the Soviet SS-20s. And in 2009, under President Nicolas Sarkozy, France rejoined NATO’s integrated command — though without reopening NATO military bases on its soil, unlike Germany, Italy, and the UK, which in 2024 still host 90,000 American troops.

Throughout the Cold War, these U.S. bases in Europe were the backbone of Western Europe’s defense against the Soviet Union. But with Donald Trump returning to the White House, their presence now raises questions that, until recently, no military strategist would have seriously considered. European democracies must now confront a troubling scenario: could these very bases become an obstacle to Europe’s strategic and military independence?

The latest decisions from Trump’s new administration are deeply concerning. The president had severed ties with Ukraine and halted military, before reversing the decision Tuesday in an accord signed in Saudi Arabia.

According to Swedish sources, the U.S. has informed its allies that it will no longer participate in planning the next military exercises in Europe.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has once again threatened Ukraine by suggesting he may disable Starlink satellites at the front. At the same time, he has publicly called for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO altogether. This raises an alarming prospect: American bases in Europe, once symbols of protection, could now serve as instruments of U.S. leverage over Europe’s autonomy.

An alarming prospect

How will the Trump administration react when the European Union, in its rearmament efforts, prioritizes its own defense industry rather than continuing to rely on American military hardware?

This is no longer just about the transactional diplomacy

In the near future, will Washington authorize the use of F-35 fighter jets if a European nation feels threatened? Or will it demand political and economic concessions, such as control over ports, industrial assets, or rare earth minerals, as it is currently doing with Ukraine? Between Trump’s first and second terms, the nature of U.S.-European relations has shifted dramatically.

This is no longer just about the transactional diplomacy of eight years ago, when Trump threatened to withhold NATO support from allies unless they increased defense spending. Today, the risk is far greater: Trump appears intent on coercing any nation that refuses to abide by his rules, starting with his push to dismantle the European Union.

The “biggest enemy”

In 2018, Trump declared, “The European Union is the biggest enemy of the United States.” Just days ago, he doubled down: “The EU was created to rip us off.”

Europeans must recognize the reality: American military bases in Europe are no longer just symbols of protection; they are potential barriers to Europe’s strategic autonomy. Not (yet) in the sense of exerting military pressure on European nations, but in their capacity to obstruct an independent defense policy. A strategic response is needed, and it must come swiftly.

The EU must start preparing for a future without American bases on its soil.

Europe must send a clear message to Trump. As historian Nicole Gnesotto, vice president of the Jacques Delors Institute, suggests: “Trump needs to know that if he refuses to help secure a peace agreement in Ukraine, Europe will stop purchasing American military equipment: a move that would drive part of his defense industry into bankruptcy, since Europe is its largest market.”

Secondly, Europe must ensure that the use of military equipment purchased from the U.S. is no longer subject to American authorization, as current regulations dictate. Finally, the EU must start preparing for a future without American bases on its soil.

When General de Gaulle announced France’s NATO exit and the closure of its bases in 1966, he had already been in power for eight years. He spent that time laying the groundwork for independence, conducting France’s first nuclear test in 1960 to establish its deterrence capability. Today, the European Union must undertake a similar effort.

But this time, Europe does not have eight years to prepare. It must act swiftly, fully aware that Trump’s America is no longer the ally it once was. At least, not in the sense outlined in NATO’s founding treaty, which states that member countries are determined to safeguard “their common heritage and civilization, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberties, and the rule of law.”