Thom Tillis’ transatlantic tightrope
At this week’s NATO summit in Lithuania, Tillis stressed that the U.S. benefits from having like-minded allies, reminding anyone who would listen that NATO’s only invocation of Article 5 — where an attack on one is an attack on all — came after 9/11. Tillis emphasized, again and again, that alliance members saw their citizens die and their governments spend billions to help America decimate al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
“National defense and the strength of the alliance is what enables us to focus on social agenda items,” he told POLITICO in one of three interviews before, during and after this week’s NATO summit. “National defense has to come first. Everything else is enabled by that.” Tillis’ appearance at the alliance’s annual gathering — billed as one of NATO’s most historic in its nearly 75-year history — was another testing ground for his message. How he performed might encourage other globally-minded fellow Republicans to follow his playbook. over breakfast that his hotel room was so dark “you could develop film in it.” Moments later he met behind closed doors with American Gen.
The senator’s position isn’t entirely new. Presidents from both parties have long pushed NATO allies to invest more in their militaries, both to steel Europe against threats and lessen the reliance on American capabilities. But that old criticism raises hackles today in European capitals, particularly Kyiv, because it suggests that the U.S. wants to minimize its role in Ukraine’s defense.
“I’ve been raising this, but so have all my colleagues, to be honest, in every meeting that we’ve had with all the senior leaders,” he continued. The lawmaker helped revive the group during Trump’s presidency in part because, in Tillis’ words, “we had an administration that was questioning the validity of NATO.” In 2018,The former president’s quest to get his old job back in 2024 could complicate Tillis’ delicate dance. Trump is already critical of U.S. support for Ukraine and claims, with no evidence, that he could end the war with Russia in 24 hours after negotiating with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
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