In the impudent phrase of Hastings “Pug” Ismay, NATO’s first secretary general, the organization was designed to “keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”. [...] It undermines the core of the transatlantic relationship and makes a mockery of the “collective” in collective security. [...] Trump’s campaign claim that the world order is not in the U. S.’s interest and that the world is taking the American people to the cleaners has found resonance. [...] After generations of free-riding, we and the rest of the Alliance cannot expect the U. S. – nor is the Trump administration prepared – to invest in collective security when we are not willing to make the necessary investments ourselves. [...] Keeping to the schedule in the building of our new warships and purchase of our new fighter jets is as important a commitment as our leadership of the new multinational brigade in Latvia.