Never mind Trump – if Europe wants to save Nato, it must win over the American people | Leslie Vinjamuri

Mark Rutte has the right idea – go beyond Washington and make the case for the transatlantic alliance to the public. They may well have a willing ear, says Leslie Vinjamuri, CEO of Chicago Council on Global Affairs

At a moment when Europe is focused on persuading Donald Trump to remain committed to Nato, it needs to convince Americans, too. So the presence this evening of the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, in front of a public audience in Des Moines, Iowa, is significant. This is the home town of Trump’s ambassador to Nato, Matthew Whitaker, and the visit brings the debate over Nato’s future directly to a midwestern audience in a red state that operates far from elite foreign-policy circles in Washington. Rutte’s appearance is long overdue.

Russia’s war in Ukraine and uncertainty over the US commitment to European security have forced European leaders to confront their dependence on Washington. While some are pressing for building European capabilities as a means to separate from the US, others see greater European defence spending as essential to keeping the US engaged. Either way, European governments can’t rely solely on meetings with Trump to secure the alliance’s future.

Instead, Europe’s leaders need to look beyond Washington and take a tip from Rutte. Making the public case for Nato, the transatlantic partnership, and shared security across the middle of the country, is essential, not optional. This case should begin with the American people.

For decades, Americans have supported the transatlantic relationship because they understood that Europe’s security is closely connected to their own. Nato and the transatlantic partnership were part of a wider ambition, designed to make the world safe for democracy, not least for the growth and prosperity this created. Public support has been essential to this undertaking.

For many Americans, democracy is now failing to deliver on the promise of prosperity, and in some key areas the contrast with Europe is stark. In the Commonwealth Fund’s 2023 survey, 46% of US adults with lower or average incomes reported skipping or delaying needed healthcare because of cost, compared with 16% in each of the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Populists have been quick to highlight the shortcomings of America’s democracy, and this message has resonated across swaths of the population, particularly rural voters and Americans without a university degree – both central to Trump’s electoral coalition.

When it comes to the American public, there is plenty of room for optimism, but in a political context that is ripe for populists to cultivate antagonism toward spending on foreign causes, there is little room for complacency. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ polling consistently shows that Americans support Nato and the transatlantic partnership. Its recent survey with Ipsos found that 68% of Americans supported maintaining or increasing the US commitment to Nato. Yet only 47% were confident that European allies would come to America’s defence if it were attacked, down from 62% in 2025. Public support for Ukraine has also remained substantial, even as Americans debate the scale and duration of US assistance; a 2024 survey found that 58% supported sending additional arms and military supplies to Ukraine, and the same number supported economic assistance.

European leaders would be wise to invest in a public diplomacy strategy in order to cultivate understanding among Americans outside Washington’s foreign-policy establishment. The secretary general’s decision to travel to Iowa should be seen as a crucial part of Europe’s midwest strategy. Other leading foreign policy organisations have sought to do the same. Over the summer, the Ditchley Foundation used the occasion of America’s 250th to deepen its partnerships across the US, convening roundtables in South Carolina and Illinois.

This outreach is essential to counter the persistent myth that Europeans are free-riding on America’s coattails. Europe’s renewed commitment to defence is significant, with a 20% increase in 2025 compared with 2024 among the EU’s 27 member states. This remains poorly understood in the US. Nato’s Annual 2025 report notes that all of Nato’s 32 members met or exceeded the 2% of GDP expenditure target for that year. Allies have committed to investing 5% of GDP annually by 2035 in defence and related security. The precise figures matter, but so does the broader message: that Europe is investing in the capacity to defend itself and contribute to shared security.

It would also be smart to highlight the opportunities created by this investment for American companies. Defence cooperation supports jobs and growth opportunities. It also boosts transatlantic supply chains and research partnerships. But the ties that bind Europe and America reach deeper than military procurement. The case for the alliance should ultimately be made in terms that people recognise in their own lives: the security of their jobs, the price and availability of energy, the resilience of the technology they rely on and, above all, the prospect of their families living without the threat of a wider war.

The transatlantic partnership cannot be secured through presidential diplomacy alone. European leaders should continue engaging the White House, but they must also make their case to the American public. The long-term future of Nato will depend not only on what presidents decide, but on whether citizens on both sides of the Atlantic continue to see the alliance as essential to their security, democracy and prosperity.

• Leslie Vinjamuri is president and CEO of Chicago Council on Global Affairs