In the 90s the US scuttled an EU plan to create an EU military force that would be relatively small--around 50,000 personnel--but would be the umbrella military

In the 90s the US scuttled an EU plan to create an EU military force that would be relatively small--around 50,000 personnel--but would be the umbrella military organization under which national forces would come together if needed. Trump and conservatives complain mightily about EU underspending on defence, but that's been by American design. While the EU was/is dependent on the American security umbrella, the US had a lot of leverage over Europe. The carrot was "you don't need to spend so much on defence, we've got you covered" and the stick was "shame if we didn't have you covered anymore, since you've been underspending for so many years.