Grievances center on defense burden-sharing, immigration and EU digital regulation

Report: US weighing withdrawal of 25,000–40,000 troops from Europe, with final decision due in November

Europe's secularization and Muslim immigration seen as warning signs

Analysts describe 'complex love-hate relationship' — attachment to European culture, hostility toward its present direction

Supporters hold up "MAGA" signs as then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in October 2024. [Getty Images]
Supporters hold up "MAGA" signs as then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in October 2024. [Getty Images]

Anti-European sentiment is growing within the MAGA — "Make America Great Again" — movement, the core base of US President Donald Trump. Analysts say the friction goes beyond traditional security disputes over defense spending, with mass immigration, secularization and EU regulatory policy all emerging as flashpoints that have sharpened the values gap between the United States and Europe.

In a report published Sunday (local time), the British magazine The Economist identified three currents driving the surge of MAGA criticism toward Europe: geopolitical realism over Europe's defense burden, national conservatism rooted in fears that Muslim immigration is eroding Western civilization, and opposition to the EU's digital regulations targeting American Big Tech companies.

The Trump administration has pressed Europe to sharply increase its own defense spending while moving to reduce the US military footprint on the continent, reshaping the security burden-sharing arrangement.

In that context, NBC News, citing multiple current and former officials, reported that US European Command chief Alexus Grynkewich submitted a report to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Sept. 18 outlining plans to withdraw between 25,000 and 40,000 US troops currently stationed in Europe.

About 80,000 US troops are currently deployed across Europe. If the Trump administration proceeds with a withdrawal of 25,000 to 40,000 troops, the force would shrink by between one-third and roughly half — the largest reduction since the end of the Cold War in the 1990s.

The report submitted to Hegseth also included options to redeploy some forces to NATO's eastern flank countries. A final recommendation is due Nov. 6, after which it will go to Trump for a decision.

Nathan Pinkoski of the Center for Renewing America, a conservative Washington think tank, said the MAGA movement believes the United States should move away from ideological alliances and prioritize its own national interests, adding that Europe should shoulder a far greater share of its own defense costs.

Within MAGA circles, frustration is also mounting over Europe's open immigration policies, with a growing conviction that the influx of Muslim populations is eroding the Christian traditions at the heart of Western civilization. American conservative influencers have spent the past decade repeatedly claiming that Muslim immigration and crime are threatening European societies.

The Economist noted that "Muslims make up roughly 6 to 10 percent of the population across Western Europe as a whole, and around 15 percent in major cities such as London and Paris," adding that "some in the MAGA camp argue that mass immigration and secularization are undermining Europe's Christian and cultural traditions."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also used his social media platform X to publicly support far-right activists in Britain and Austria, as well as the German right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany, known as AfD.

Sumantra Maitra of the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy in Washington said realists believe that US support for populist political forces across Europe — in Germany, Poland and elsewhere — risks drawing America into yet another ideological conflict.

Colin Dueck of the American Enterprise Institute added that from a MAGA perspective, the EU is "an ideal target for criticism precisely because it is seen as a progressive multilateral institution."

Criticism over EU regulations, including the Digital Services Act, has also intensified. The MAGA camp views EU digital rules as squarely aimed at American Big Tech companies, fueling a widening trade dispute between the two sides.

Over the past year, the Trump administration has maintained that the EU's Digital Services Act restricts free expression and innovation for US technology companies. On Sept. 24 (local time), it announced it would join Elon Musk's lawsuit over a 120 million euro ($135 million) fine imposed on X for alleged DSA violations.

Some analysts caution, however, against characterizing MAGA's view of Europe as simply anti-European. A YouGov poll from July found that 32 percent of Republican voters held a favorable view of the EU, while 40 percent held an unfavorable one. Among Republicans who identify as MAGA, 30 percent viewed the EU favorably and 44 percent unfavorably.

Laura K. Field, a scholar of the new right, described MAGA's relationship with Europe as "a complex love-hate dynamic," saying the movement holds a deep attachment to Europe's cultural heritage and traditions while believing that contemporary Europe has drifted far from them.

Pinkoski echoed that view, saying MAGA's critical stance toward Europe "comes in part from a deep affection for it — it is a worry about the direction Europe is heading."

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