Independence, and how to achieve it, is weighing on the minds of European leaders as they contemplate an end to their nations' decadeslong reliance on the U.S. for security. The once-unshakeable belief that the U.S. would honor its NATO commitments and come to the continent's collective defense has caused European nations to become "increasingly dependent on the U.S. to organize, manage and execute" military operations, said The Times. The second Trump presidency "leaves that expectation in tatters." 

What did the commentators say? 
Weeks after taking power, Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance have "spirited away confidence in the U.S. defense umbrella that has sheltered Western Europe since 1945," said James Fennell at the think tank Center for European Policy Analysis. The U.K.'s reliance on the U.S. in military and intelligence matters has exposed us to "vulnerabilities," said George Monbiot at The Guardian. 

The two countries work together on a "wide range of joint intelligence programs," but effectively, the much larger National Security Agency uses the U.K.'s Government Communications Headquarters as a "subcontractor." Likewise with the British Army, which will "dip below 70,000 this year" and "relies on the U.S. for key enablers, such as communications, logistics, personnel, command, engineering and medical treatment," said Larisa Brown at The Times. 

Europe as a whole "lacks military transport and logistics chains," said Lorne Cook at The Associated Press. And while the continent's "combined armies total around 2 million personnel," few "can be effectively deployed." 

Without U.S. backup, Europe "could need 300,000 troops" to deter Russia, according to estimates from the Brussels think tank Bruegel. The recent proposal of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine involved fewer than 30,000 European troops on the ground, backed by air and sea power, but "finding even that many poses a challenge." 

What next? 
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen will present a "comprehensive plan" to urgently "rearm" Europe at an emergency meeting of EU leaders tomorrow. Member states must be given "more fiscal space to do a surge in defense spending," she said to reporters. Europe "can build up most of the critical defense enablers needed to deter or defeat Russia without U.S. support within five years," said Defense News, "provided the political will to invest is there."

Thousands of Haitian migrants living in Ohio are worried they could be deported by the Trump administration. In August, the White House will end Temporary Protected Status for 500,000 Haitian migrants. But revoking protections for this population could have a significant effect on the economy of Ohio.

What's life like for the migrants?
There has been an influx of Haitians to Ohio due to the state's large manufacturing presence. Springfield even has a dedicated webpage for questions about the city's migrant community. 

But with half a million Haitians set to lose their protections this summer, Ohio feels renewed stress over what could happen if large swaths of the state's migrant community are deported. The state — Springfield, in particular — is also still dealing with the backlash of Trump's words during last year's presidential debate, when he "falsely accused Haitians in Springfield of eating their neighbor's cats and dogs," said The Associated Press. The "false rumors exacerbated fears about division and anti-immigrant sentiment in the mostly white blue-collar city of about 59,000" and led to bomb threats against schools and government facilities.

What happens if they are deported?
The deportations "could be catastrophic" for the Haitian migrants and the "businesses that depend on them," said The Guardian. Many cities in Ohio have been financially boosted by these migrants, In Springfield, Haitians have "contributed to the city's housing and financial revival," while "about 1,000 Haitians are believed to live in the Findlay area, a city 30 miles northeast of Lima, where one automotive company reportedly relies on immigrants for half its workforce."

People are "making money from renting to them, providing services, employing them," Carla Thompson, a Springfield city council representative, said to The Guardian. That's "going to go away, and those were jobs that our plants and factories needed filled. If we go back to the same population that we had, how do those jobs get filled in the future?"