This entire new "free loading" narrative is rather unfriendly and unwarranted after everything NATO had been set up exactly the way the US wanted it to be and under US leadership. The US should look at how many nations supported it after 9-11 without asking questions and with lives lost. We need reliable alliances, treaties that can be trusted and US nukes to continue protecting Western Europe. Everything else feels like Kremlin support and creating headlines to avoid others. Yes, Europe needs more independent options now but on the long run we will need the US as our partner. This is not the time for ego trips on any side of the Atlantic.