The bet would be that in the long run (talking 5-10 years down the road after the EU has built their defense), the EU would still be more likely to ally with th

The bet would be that in the long run (talking 5-10 years down the road after the EU has built their defense), the EU would still be more likely to ally with the US then China. The current administration perhaps thinks that alienating them in the short run is the only way to get them to actually get serious about building military.