This is largely what I believe to be true also. "We have a lot of leverage, and even if we don't, then we don't have to pay to be the worlds police" - is large

This is largely what I believe to be true also. "We have a lot of leverage, and even if we don't, then we don't have to pay to be the worlds police" - is largely how I (also a european) have seen Trumps actions. The "issue", is that this is a populist take. It's weirdly not in Americas interest to take that stance, because they are a defacto world government with the amount of soft power they are able to exert, militarily and in trade. So, the GP is quite right, people are waking up to the idea that this soft power was running kinda deep and we shouldn't just allow ourselves to get soft too. Just like an insurance company will find a way not to pay: the US may never have actually come to the aid of Europe; and nobody thought about that, they just accepted most of what the US was asking in the hope that they would. The lesson will be painful in the short-term, but I'm also hopeful that we take it seriously and start investing in ourselves.