'Leaked documents' reveal how Trump would respond if Putin 'attacked Europe'

A leaked Pentagon document reportedly suggests Donald Trump is unlikely to help Europe if Russia’s president Vladimir Putin attacks.

Confidential guidance from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged that the Trump administration is unlikely to offer substantial support, if any, to Europe in the event of a Russian attack, as reported by The Washington Post.

The secret document, called the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance”, states that while the US could rely on its vast nuclear deterrence capabilities to assist Russia, European allies could only expect troop deployments that are not already committed to homeland defence or countering China.

According to The Washington Post, the document, “outlines, in broad and sometimes partisan detail, the execution of President Donald Trump’s vision to prepare for and win a potential war against Beijing and defend the United States from threats in the near abroad, including Greenland and the Panama Canal.”

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump during the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019Getty

The details about Europe come despite existing NATO commitments binding all members to help each other in their time of need. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, NATO invoked Article 5 for the first and only time in its history, meaning an attack on one is an attack on all.

According to The Washington Post, the document outlines the Trump administration’s refocus on China and away from ‘other theatres’. The first Trump administration and Biden’s administration considered China to be “the greatest threat to the US and postured the force to prepare for and deter conflict in the Pacific region”.

However, the document is “extraordinary” in its description of “the potential invasion of Taiwan as the exclusive animating scenario that must be prioritised over other potential dangers”.

The outlet also remarked that the memo bore “the fingerprints” of the Heritage Foundation, which is said to include “some passages that are nearly word-for-word duplications of tex published by the think tank last year.”

During his campaign last year, Trump distanced himself from the Heritage Project’s 2025 manifesto, described as a “sweeping and controversial conservative policy blueprint”. However, analysis by Time found that nearly two-thirds of Trump’s executive actions up to 24 January, four days after his second inauguration, “so far mirror or partially mirror proposals from the 900-page document”, including immigration reform.

However a White House spokesperson told TIME that the President “had nothing to do with Project 2025”.

The Pentagon will urge allies in Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia to spend more on defense to handle most of the deterrence against threats from Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

Indy100 has contacted the Defense Department for comment.

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