U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker warned Wednesday that Europe's long post-Cold War complacency is colliding with today's security reality, telling Newsmax's "Wake Up America" that allies are confronting the costs of taking a "decades-long peace dividend" after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Speaking about recent meetings in Munich alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Whitaker said Europe's anxiety is not about Washington's commitment but about the deteriorating security environment on its own doorstep.

"Obviously, our European allies are worried not about the United States, nor should they be worried about the United States," he said. "They're worried about the strategic security situation here on the continent, with a war that's going to go into its fifth year next week still raging on."

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Whitaker said Rubio's message was well received by security partners, and he portrayed a continent increasingly aware it must quickly rebuild its strength as the conflict grinds on and deterrence requirements rise.

He emphasized that the United States is moving in the opposite direction of retrenchment, arguing that the current administration is pouring resources into defense because the global picture is darker than it has been in years.

"The United States is investing, under President [Donald] Trump, dramatic resources into our defense, because the world is a less secure, more scary place than it has been," Whitaker said.

That investment, he added, is paired with pointed encouragement for allies to match the pace, not with rhetoric but with capability-building that makes the NATO alliance more resilient and more credible.

"At the same time, you know, we are encouraging and urging our allies to get stronger with us," Whitaker said, adding that "our European allies are stepping up, but we need all of them to step up so that our alliance is even stronger."

He suggested the central challenge is capacity: many European governments are weighing how to rearm and modernize after years of slower economic growth and political assumptions that the post-Soviet era would remain comparatively stable.

"Their economies are not growing as fast as the United States," Whitaker said. "They took a decades-long peace dividend after the fall of the Soviet Union. That obviously has turned out to be the wrong decision."

The U.S., he argued, made a different bet, one that continued to invest in readiness and industrial capacity, which has left it better positioned as Europe scrambles to restore its own defense base.

"The United States didn't take that peace dividend. We continued to invest in our capabilities," Whitaker said, arguing that "our defense industries here in Europe are not as strong as they could be or should be."

Still, Whitaker described the Munich talks as forward-looking and practical, focused less on blame than on timelines, production, and coordinated investment that strengthens the alliance.

"A lot of the conversations were pragmatic," he said, centered on "what the future holds" and "making sure that we're all stronger together."

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