European intelligence officials want to know what on Earth is happening with the Trump administration

The United States' European intelligence allies are tottering after the blow delivered in the form of revelations about Gen. Michael Flynn's ties to Russia and his subsequent resignation as national security adviser. "There's no guide for handling this sort of situation, happening with such an important and powerful ally," an overseas official who was not authorized to speak to the press told BuzzFeed News. "If anything, it's a wake-up call to European leaders that counting on America isn't currently a smart policy."

Many European Union intelligence officials and diplomats were already concerned about Flynn, but they don't expect their trust to resume now that he has left his position. "[Flynn's] obvious ties and sympathies to the Russians were shocking and made a lot of people quite fearful. But will replacing him fix that perception?" another official said. " I don't know… it's hard to come back from concerns that Russia has infiltrated your security services."

Another intelligence official said: "Of course this is exactly what Putin wants — to destabilize the Atlantic alliance — but I have to counsel my policymakers the best I can and right now it's, 'Prepare to handle some crises without U.S. support."

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But underneath the alarm is a sense of plain and simple confusion: "I was hoping you could tell me what the f--- is going on over there," one intelligence official said. Read the full report at BuzzFeed News.