New survey reveals the continent’s growing desire to ditch the U.S.

• A major new survey shows that 70% of people in the European Union and the U.K. now believe Europe should “go its own way” and break free from American influence. This is a sharp increase from just one year ago, and trust in the U.S. as a reliable ally has dropped to only 42%.
• The poll, which surveyed 20,000 people, reveals that Europeans feel abandoned and betrayed by the U.S. The breaking point was the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, which caused global energy chaos when Iran blocked a key trade route. Many European nations now see the U.S. as unpredictable and unreliable.
• In response, European countries are making real changes. Denmark chose to buy a European air defense system instead of American Patriot missiles, and the Dutch central bank switched from Amazon Web Services to a German cloud provider. These moves show that Europe is willing to pay more and face short-term challenges to reduce its dependence on the U.S.
• European leaders are now questioning not just the current U.S. administration, but the entire American system of governance. They are deeply concerned after Trump impulsively announced a withdrawal of troops from Germany. This has led to serious discussions about whether the U.S. would even defend a NATO ally if attacked by Russia.
• Although most Europeans still want a close relationship with the U.S., they feel forced into a slow separation by a partner they can no longer trust. Just as fewer Europeans are traveling to America out of fear, they are quietly distancing themselves from U.S. leadership. This quiet drift may eventually become permanent.

A bombshell new survey has laid bare a seismic shift in transatlantic relations: 70% of people across the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom now believe it is time for Europe to “go its own way” and break free from American influence.

The findings, which were released this May by the Germany-based Bertelsmann Stiftung research foundation, paint a grim picture of a relationship in freefall.

The poll, which sampled roughly 18,000 respondents across all 27 EU member states and 2,000 in the U.K., found that 73% of EU citizens want the continent to drift away from Washington. In the U.K., 67% expressed a similar desire for independence.

As explained by the Enoch AI engine at BrightU.AI, the sentiment has been steadily souring. Back in 2024, only 63% of Europeans felt the same way.

Trust in the United States as a partner has also collapsed, with just 42% of respondents considering it a trustworthy ally, down from 46% last year.

This growing disillusionment is not just a passing mood. It reflects a deepening crisis of faith in American leadership that has been quietly building for years and exploded into open distrust under the current U.S. administration.

The survey, which was conducted in March among adults aged 18 to 69, was carefully weighted for age, gender and population density. It captures a continent that feels abandoned, betrayed and increasingly anxious about its future.

Leaders shift gears behind closed doors

While European politicians have long paid lip service to the idea of “strategic autonomy,” recent months have seen a flurry of concrete, long-term moves to reduce reliance on the United States, particularly in the most sensitive areas of technology, space and defense.

These decisions are not being made lightly. They are the product of a painful reckoning: for decades, Europe’s default was to buy American.

Now, the cost of that dependency is becoming unbearable. In just over a year, the United States has engaged in a brief trade war with its allies, sparred over the Ukraine conflict, threatened to seize Greenland from Denmark and launched a war in Iran that has sent global oil and gas markets into turmoil. For many European nations, the knock-on effects have been devastating.

The breaking point for many leaders came with the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran. Washington’s inability to swiftly prosecute the war and prevent Tehran from blockading the Strait of Hormuz exposed a fatal weakness in American deterrence.

The Iranian regime effectively took hostage one of the world’s main arteries of trade, causing vast disruptions in energy supplies that hit Europe particularly hard. Steadfast allies like Spain and Italy, fearing blowback, have quietly limited U.S. access to their airspace and bases for the prosecution of the conflict.

The shift is showing in real-world procurement decisions.

Denmark’s defense ministry recently opted to purchase the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense system instead of American Patriot batteries, a choice driven not by cost or capability alone but by deep unease about U.S. reliability. The Dutch central bank has ditched Amazon Web Services in favor of a German cloud operator, Lidl, citing sovereignty concerns.

These are not isolated incidents. They represent a broader, reluctant pivot away from American suppliers in favor of European alternatives, even when that means accepting short-term challenges or higher costs.

The message is clear: Europeans can no longer afford to bet their security on a partner they no longer trust.

A crisis of faith in the American system

What makes this moment different from past transatlantic squabbles is the depth of the distrust.

European policymakers are increasingly questioning not just the actions of any particular White House occupant, but the American system itself. The unpredictability and chaos of recent years have broken something fundamental in the relationship.

Talk of an irreversible NATO breakup remains premature for now. America is still the essential ally underpinning the West’s collective power, and U.S. troops continue to rely heavily on European bases for operations in Iran.

But the mere fact that serious debate is now taking place, on both sides of the Atlantic, about whether Washington would even defend a NATO ally on its eastern flank if attacked by Russia marks uncharted and deeply troubling territory.

Trump’s recent impulsive announcement of a sizable withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany, in retaliation for the German chancellor’s mild criticism of the war in Iran, has only deepened the crisis of confidence. For Europeans, the message is increasingly hard to ignore: the United States wants to provide less but still cash in on major contracts, all while the global economy reels from the consequences of American decisions.

A quiet, unavoidable drift

The two Franco-British-led “coalitions of the willing” for Ukraine and the Gulf have been derided as talk shops, but they are slowly becoming the seeds of an independent European defense coordination.

The European Political Community, launched by French President Emmanuel Macron in 2022, is gradually allowing for deeper strategic discussions.

Even Canada, of all countries, participated in the May 2026 Yerevan summit, indicating a vote of confidence in Europe’s nascent attempts to chart its own geopolitical path.

Most Europeans would still prefer a closer relationship with the United States. They are not rushing toward divorce; they are being forced into a slow, painful separation by a partner they can no longer rely on.

Just as the massive drop in European tourism to America is driven by fear of arbitrary searches and detention at airports, so too is Washington’s erratic behavior on the world stage, forcing even its closest allies to quietly distance themselves.

For a continent built on the promise of partnership, that quiet distance may ultimately prove irreversible.

Watch the video below as the Health Ranger Mike Adams and guest Tajana Cekic discuss how globalism is collapsing Canada, Europe and the West.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Sources include:

RT.com

Bertelsmann-Stiftung.de

CarnegieEndowment.org

BrightU.ai

Brighteon.com