Vice President JD Vance will reportedly pass on the 2026 Munich Security Conference after he rattled European leaders with a combative speech last year.
The speech, delivered early in President Donald Trump’s second term, established that the administration would be less friendly toward Europe.
“There’s a new sheriff in town,” Vance said at the time. He also criticized Europe for controlling online speech, canceling elections, and suppressing conservative voices.
The comments outraged many European officials. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke after Vance and called his comments “unacceptable,” refusing any suggestion that Germany’s election system was disenfranchising voters.
“I strongly oppose the impression that Vice President Vance has created that minorities are being suppressed or silenced in our democracy,” Pistorius said.
Vance’s comments came directly after he met with leaders of the right-wing AfD party, which shook German leaders. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Vance’s meeting with the right-wing leaders and his speech constituted an assault on “the firewall against extreme right-wing parties.”
Since Vance’s address, relations with Europe have been shaky. The Trump administration has collaborated with much of Europe at times on helping Ukraine with a peace deal concerning Russia, but has also dropped the matter when tensions have flared.
The Trump administration rolled out its National Security Strategy in December, which warned that Europe risks “civilizational erasure” over migration policies and posed the matter as existential to the United States.
Tariffs also threatened to worsen relations, though many European countries worked out deals with the Trump administration to lessen their effect.
Trump’s latest threats toward Greenland have many in the European national security community alarmed again.
NATO ally Denmark owns Greenland, and any invasion of the landmass would draw other European nations into the conflict.
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Troops from countries such as France, Germany, Norway, and Sweden recently arrived to bolster Greenland’s security. It’s unclear when Trump will drop his threats or whether a deal will be reached.
On Friday, Trump said he may raise tariffs on European countries that oppose the U.S.’s proposed takeover of Greenland.
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