Next year, with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the transatlantic alliance will face fresh challenges.
The president-elect is certain to put even greater pressure on European nations to increase their defense spending, and he may use the possibility of reducing US assistance for NATO as leverage. And, given the threat from Russia and escalating global instability, he may have a point.
Trump reiterated his intention to quickly end the war in Ukraine this week, and he is already discussing meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the earliest possible time to stop his alienation from Western leaders.
Meanwhile, European nations are jostling for Trump’s favor and bracing for the impending storm. French President Emmanuel Macron invited Trump to Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral. Britain has recently appointed Lord Peter Mandelson, one of its most Machiavellian political operators in the last 40 years, as its new ambassador to Washington. Germany is in political crisis, with a new election approaching. And Trump wants to be with politicians that share his populist nationalist beliefs, such as Giorgia Meloni of Italy and Viktor Orbán of Hungary.
It has been decades since the concept of the “West” appeared so tenuous. During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill established the foundations for the postwar global order. And Christmas Eve usually brings back memories of Churchill’s momentous journey to Washington immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which drew the United States into World War II in December 1941.
This meeting was initially published in Meanwhile on Christmas Day, 2019. Here’s another chance to learn about the critical holiday season that shaped a new world.
Even Eleanor Roosevelt had no idea who was coming for Christmas, though her husband’s request for excellent champagne, brandy, and whiskey may have provided a hint.
It was December 1941. World War II had drained the Christmas joy, and the United States was in shock, only weeks after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor drew it into the conflict. Roosevelt was not in the mood for home visitors, but Winston Churchill insisted on an invitation. Soon, the British prime minister was onboard the HMS Duke of York, avoiding U-boats and driving across the frigid Atlantic.
A jet flew his contingent from Virginia’s coast to Washington, DC, and the British, accustomed to London’s air raid blackouts, marveled at the lights of the city below, which was decked out for its first wartime Christmas.
The first lady realized her guest’s identity only when he was in the car on his way to the White House, with the curtain of secrecy broken and Churchill safe on US soil. What followed was the most memorable summit in White House history. It arrived at a time when humanity was in turmoil, with tyranny and hate on the rise. And it demonstrated that leadership from two titans equal to their time in history could keep the world safe for freedom and democracy, no matter how dark the hour was during those bleak days of that long-ago Christmas.
Churchill was a difficult guest due to his eccentricities, which included midday naps, late-night brainstorming, and a penchant for walking around in various states of undress. He informed FDR’s butler that he needed a tumbler of sherry for breakfast, Scotch and sodas for lunch, champagne in the evening, and a taste of 90-year-old brandy for a nightcap.
Years later, Eleanor Roosevelt would be astounded by the cigar-puffing Churchill’s iron constitution. “Like all Englishmen, he was very fond of beef in any form,” she told me. Even FDR’s notoriously bad cook couldn’t deter the British, who enjoyed fresh eggs and oranges denied them by years of rationing back home.
There were also significant variances. Roosevelt disliked the British Empire, which Churchill loved. The American generals in attendance thought their visitors snobby. The British brass, toughened by years of failure, regarded the US side as foolish.
But two weeks together would finally develop a bond and produce the framework for winning the war: Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on a Europe-first strategy to destroy the Nazis before imperial Japan, as well as a coordinated move on North Africa.
They would also agree on the United Nations Declaration, which was intended to protect future generations from the horrors of war while also uniting the West with institutions and a single transatlantic goal – one that might be jeopardized if Trump retakes the presidency.
On Christmas Eve, Churchill watched as Roosevelt pulled a switch to illuminate the National Christmas Tree.
“How do we give our gifts? How can we assemble and worship with love and an uplifted spirit and heart in a war-torn world full of violence, suffering, and death?” Roosevelt asked. He addressed his own question, urging Americans to use the holiday season to prepare for the struggle ahead with “the arming of our hearts.”
“And when we make ready our hearts for the labor and the suffering and the ultimate victory which lie ahead, then we observe Christmas Day – with all of its memories and all of its meanings – as we should.”
Churchill, whose mother was American and who visited the United States during his “wilderness years,” when he was out of power in the 1930s, stated, “I spend this anniversary and festival far from my country, far from my family, and yet I cannot truthfully say that I feel far from home.”
“I feel a sense of unity and fraternal association which, added to the kindliness of your welcome, convinces me that I have a right to sit at your fireside and share your Christmas joys.”
