Blinken is maintaining the “Orange Man gone, world is all better now” trope the U.S. media love so much. The Euros aren’t so sure, but paying off the Big Guy is bound to be cheaper than keeping their promises of spending 2% of their budgets on defense.
Those military budget chickens from 2014 are coming home to roost. Germany promised a large increase after Russia invaded Ukraine that is never going to happen.