Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first major appearances on the world stage were immediately met with rebuke from longtime American allies.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius called Vance’s remarks at the Munich Security Conference — during which the vice president downplayed threats from Russia and China against Europe and called out European nations for retreating from “fundamental values” — “not acceptable.”
“He spoke of the annulment of democracy, and if I understood him correctly, he compares Europe with some authoritarian regimes. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not acceptable,” he said.