{"id":115531,"date":"2026-02-15T22:52:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T22:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115531"},"modified":"2026-02-15T22:52:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T22:52:00","slug":"trump-will-be-gone-in-three-years-top-democrats-try-to-reassure-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115531","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Trump will be gone in three years\u2019: Top Democrats try to reassure Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the centre of attention at the Munich Security Summit, as European leaders wondered apprehensively what tone he would strike in his remarks on Saturday.<\/p>\n

While his speech did not fully allay their concerns, it was seen as reassuring allies that, while US relations may have frayed under Donald Trump, they will not break.<\/p>\n

Rubio\u2019s was not the only US political voice at the security summit, however.<\/p>\n

And even if the secretary of state\u2019s remarks had not been so well-received \u2013 if he had sharply criticised Europeans the way Vice-President JD Vance did\u00a0at the conference last year\u00a0\u2013 there were other US politicians doing their best impression of the Persian poet, counselling: \u201cThis too shall pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s nothing else I can communicate today,\u201d California Governor Gavin Newsom said at a conference event on Friday, \u201cDonald Trump is temporary. He\u2019ll be gone in three years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom was just one of dozens of American legislators and governors in attendance \u2013 including some Democrats, like the Californian, who may contend for their party\u2019s 2028 presidential nomination.<\/p>\n

New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of the biggest attractions at the conference<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many emphasised that the US would remain a strong partner to Europe, along lines similar to those offered by Rubio, but without his criticism of cultural decline on the continent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason we\u2019re here is to provide reassurance that we understand how important our European allies are,\u201d Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said.<\/p>\n

A Republican in attendance, Senator Thom Tillis, echoed her, noting that the US and Europe were not in a \u201ccivil war\u201d. He cautioned American allies not to get caught up in the \u201crhetoric of American politics\u201d.<\/p>\n

That has been easier said than done recently, as Trump has imposed steep tariffs on many US trading partners, and he and some of his top aides have been blunt in their desire to reshape the international order, use American military power, and refocus American foreign policy on the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s\u00a0designs on Greenland\u00a0\u2013 which he repeated before departing the White House for a weekend in Florida on Friday \u2013 have been only the most jarring example of the shift in the American outlook.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s willingness to push boundaries and test the limits of his power has not been limited to foreign affairs. Several Democrats took time in Munich to address additional domestic concerns.<\/p>\n

Virginia Senator Mark Warner warned that the president\u2019s talk of\u00a0nationalising elections\u00a0and instituting stringent identity requirements for voting via executive order mean the freedom and fairness of November\u2019s midterm congressional elections are at stake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I would say that in 2026 America,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Trump has defended his effort \u2013 and\u00a0the SAVE act, which would implement a national voter identification requirement legislatively \u2013 as both popular with a sizable majority of Americans and necessary to prevent voter impersonation at the ballot box.<\/p>\n

Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, who were the focus of a recent unsuccessful indictment attempt by the Department of Justice for their video\u00a0urging US soldiers to disregard \u201cillegal\u201d orders, both commented on being in the administration\u2019s spotlight.<\/p>\n

The US, Slotkin said, was \u201cgoing through something profound\u201d, before adding: \u201cWe\u2019ll get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona spoke at the Munich Security Conference<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proved to be one of the conference\u2019s biggest attractions, alongside Rubio. <\/p>\n

She drew a line between growing wealth inequality \u2013 a focus of her domestic policy agenda since she won an upset victory in Congress in 2018 \u2013 and the rise of authoritarian governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is of the utmost urgency that we get our economic houses in order and deliver material gains for the working class,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, we will fall into a more isolated world governed by authoritarians who also do not deliver to working people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ocasio-Cortez was another Democrat who may have presidential ambitions. While her appearance could enhance her foreign policy experience, it also underscored some of the risks associated with stepping onto the international stage. <\/p>\n

At one point, she struggled to answer whether the US should defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.<\/p>\n

While Ocasio-Cortez comes from a different wing of the Democratic Party, her view that Western democracies must provide a compelling alternative to authoritarian governments is similar to one Joe Biden expressed during his presidency.<\/p>\n

Trump, with his \u201cAmerica First\u201d foreign policy and talk of preserving Western culture, provided a decidedly different view of world affairs. <\/p>\n

And in 2024, a plurality of Americans voted to return Trump to the White House, setting off a tumultuous year in which Vance\u2019s confrontational Munich speech was just the scene-setter.<\/p>\n

While Rubio has smoothed over some rough edges, the Democrats who travelled to Munich sought to offer a more distinct counterpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, Europe just wants us to be better, right? And I think this has been a very good conference to reassure nerves,\u201d Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego said. \u201cSometimes you have to remind them that this is not all Trump\u2026 We\u2019re still here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the centre of attention at the Munich Security Summit, as European leaders wondered apprehensively what tone he would strike in his remarks on Saturday.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5835,993,1910,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democrats","category-donald-trump","category-international","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}