> the concept of strategic autonomy is getting traction in the rest of Europe.

I think you may have missed the part where Sweden just joined NATO recently. As long as the EU countries are in NATO which is de facto under American leadership, then there will be no strategic autonomy.

Secondly, even if the mood is sour between the US and the EU currently, Germany, Poland and other small eastern states very much still like to have the US as backers if only just for the fact that there is no EU army.

If the EU countries were leaving NATO to form their own military alliance, then I would agree with you but that hasn't happened and maybe never will.

> but that hasn't happened and maybe never will.

Countries aren't leaving NATO yet, but they are setting up and strengthening alternatives which will make such an option easier. For an example, Canada just joined SAFE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOdabtEUoyY

> If the EU countries were leaving NATO to form their own military alliance, then I would agree with you but that hasn't happened and maybe never will.

The whole point is that, in general, global cooperation has worked well in the last 80 years. Europe doesn't want that to change but the US didn't vote for this guy once, but twice. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you.

So Europe won't leave NATO, but it is pivoting to being more self sufficient. It's another area where the US is quickly spending the political capital it accumulated for decades.

A US-led NATO may very well not survive two more years of Trump presidency.