By late February, barely a month into the second Trump presidency, it was becoming clear. The American-European edifice that arose at the end of World War II, a structure painstakingly built over decades around common economic interests, military ties, U.S. promises to provide security and shared expressions of the basic principles of free democracies, was suddenly, incomprehensibly in peril. The Trump administration has abandoned a common front with Europe in standing up to Russia in its war against Ukraine. It brought doubt to its commitment to NATO. It imposed tariffs that seemed to threaten America's allies as much as its rivals. Trust was gone. At Times Opinion, we wanted to hear what Europeans had to say about this. In particular, we wanted to hear from diplomats and government officials who had spent their lives and built their careers under a basic assumption that had now been vaporized: that America was unconditionally a friend. We organized a discussion led by Serge Schmemann, a member of The Times's editorial board who has chronicled the cross-Atlantic relationship for decades. We chose contributors carefully according to their experience, knowledge and homelands: Lithuania, a Baltic nation that knows full well subjugation by Russia; Germany, a European power in the heart of the continent; and Britain, the longtime special partner of the United States. Here's what we're focusing on today:
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