Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma recently graced CNN with a bit of historical revisionism, declaring, “We allowed Europe to rebuild after WWII.” Ah yes, because Europe was just sitting there, rubble in hand, waiting for the mighty U.S. to give them the nod of approval to pick up a broom. Like a dog staring at a steak, waiting for someone to say ‘go on then.’ If there’s one thing Americans love, it’s rewriting history with a heroic flourish—preferably one where everyone else was a helpless bystander in their own fate.
Here’s the thing: the U.S. helped Europe rebuild. It did not allow it. The Marshall Plan was not some act of divine benevolence; it was a calculated move to make sure Western Europe didn’t become part of Russia, stabilizing economies to keep communism from creeping in like an uninvited dinner guest who drinks all your whiskey and leaves without saying thanks. And let’s not pretend it was a one-way street—America didn’t just do it out of the kindness of its heart. It got booming markets, stronger allies, and a foothold for its own economic dominance. A win-win, really. But to hear Mullin tell it, you’d think Europe was collectively standing around, waiting for Uncle Sam to hand over a hammer and some blueprints.
This kind of thinking isn’t just historically lazy, it’s profoundly arrogant. Europe didn’t sit around twiddling its thumbs after the war, hoping for American permission to move forward. The Germans turned their Wirtschaftswunder into an economic powerhouse, the French reindustrialized with their usual mix of stubbornness and flair, and the British—well, they rebuilt while also inventing the queue, the world’s most impressive national pastime. These were internal efforts, led by Europeans, for Europeans. Mullin’s version of history turns them into passive beneficiaries of American goodwill, rather than the agents of their own recovery.
And, of course, this little history lesson wasn’t just for fun—it was a convenient prelude to justifying tariffs on European goods. Because, apparently, Europe owes the U.S. for its recovery, and what better way to collect than with some good old-fashioned economic retaliation? That’s like buying a friend dinner once and then demanding free meals for life. Trade relationships don’t work on a “you owe me” basis. They’re about negotiation, mutual benefit, and, ideally, not throwing a tantrum when your allies don’t do exactly what you want.
The problem with statements like Mullin’s is that they reek of a certain kind of naivety—one that comes from never really knowing a place, just assuming it needs your help. You see it in tourists who order a cheeseburger in Hanoi, shocked when it doesn’t taste like something from a Midwest diner. You see it in the businessman trying to tell a Tokyo sushi master how to sharpen a knife. And you see it in politicians who think history is just a series of American victories, neatly packaged for a domestic audience that will never bother to read beyond the headline.
Europe is not some junior partner in the global economy, and treating it as such is a great way to sour relationships that actually matter. The continent has its own interests, its own power, and, most importantly, its own memory of history—one that doesn’t involve waiting for America’s green light to exist.
So here’s a thought: instead of clinging to the idea that the U.S. is the eternal architect of everyone else’s prosperity, maybe accept that other nations have their own agency, their own achievements, and their own reasons to push back when Washington throws a tariff tantrum. Because the world didn’t rebuild itself on American permission—it rebuilt itself on necessity, resilience, and the sheer will to move forward, whether the U.S. allowed it or not. And honestly, if the U.S. hadn’t helped Europe recover, who knows? Maybe the French would be running half the world, the Italians would have somehow turned espresso into a political movement, and the British would have rebranded tea as a global currency. Now wouldn’t that have been something?
And yet, after over 60 years of partnership, Trump and his Republican allies seem perfectly happy to surrender to Russia—handing Putin everything he wants on a silver platter while pretending that NATO and the EU are the real threats. Funny how quickly that whole “keep Europe free” sentiment disappears when it’s no longer politically convenient.
