Bonds forged during a wartime Christmas 83 years ago could soon be at risk

Next year will bring new strains to the transatlantic alliance, with the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

The president-elect is certain to pile even more pressure on European nations to increase their spending on defense — and may use the threat of downgrading US support for NATO as leverage. And given the threat from Russia and rising global instability, he may well have a point.

Trump spoke again this week about his desire to quickly end the war in Ukraine and is already talking about ending Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alienation from Western leaders by meeting him at an early opportunity.

European nations are, meanwhile, competing to win Trump’s affections and preparing for the storm to come. French President Emmanuel Macron lured Trump to Paris for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Britain has just named Lord Peter Mandelson, one of its most Machiavellian political operators of the last 40 years, as its new ambassador to Washington. Germany is in political turmoil with a new election looming. And Trump prefers the company of leaders who share his populist nationalist creed, like Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

It’s been decades since the idea of the “West” has seemed so tenuous. The foundations for the post-World War II global order were laid by President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II. And Christmas Eve always brings memories of Churchill’s important trip to Washington shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pushed the US into World War II in December 1941.

We first featured this meeting in Meanwhile on Christmas Day in 2019. Here’s another chance to read about this pivotal festive season that built a new world.