President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s August 16 meeting with President Donald Trump was largely uneventful. But European policymakers should take note of one key aspect of the summit: the guest list. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were among the select few European leaders in attendance.
Because Europe still depends heavily on the United States military and defense industry to backstop its security, access to the White House therefore remains a key indicator of influence for European heads of state. Trump has been adamant that North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies who spend more on defense will have a greater strategic role. But the reasons for Stubbs’s and Meloni’s presence at this high-profile meeting are much more nuanced. In 2024, Finland spent 2.41 percent of its gross domestic product on defense, far less than countries like Estonia and Poland, which spent 3.43 and 4.12 percent respectively. Italy, meanwhile, spent just 1.49 percent of its GDP on defense last year.
Instead, Finland and Italy have gained preferential access by demonstrating a long-term commitment to bolstering the allied defense force posture. They have achieved influence on major US security decisions by leveraging their comparative advantages to make strategic contributions to allied deterrence against complex, numerous, and swiftly evolving threats.
Finland: NATO’s Arctic Shipyard
Finland’s NATO accession in 2023 marked the culmination of its gradual move away from Russia and toward the West. Finland shares an 833-mile land border with Russia, making it a frontline NATO ally. But Finland’s greatest asset to US and NATO defense plans is its shipyards. Though Finland does not have an Arctic Ocean coastline, it produces the modern icebreaker vessels Arctic nations need to establish a maritime presence in the region.
The Arctic is becoming a vital strategic region as Moscow and Beijing increase their involvement. With Chinese assistance, Russia has militarized an enormous area from the Barents Sea to the Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. A growing fleet of Russian ballistic missile submarines, which are capable of launching nuclear weapons at the mainland US, currently operates with near-impunity in these waters.
Since 2013, the Finnish state-owned firm Arctia, which operates the country’s icebreakers, has worked to establish icebreaker cooperation with the US. Finland has also produced some of Russia’s icebreaker fleet, which comprises more than 40 vessels. But as its ties with Moscow deteriorated, Finland sought new customers in the West.
For more than a decade, the US has weighed options to expand its icebreaker capacity, which is currently limited to just two aging vessels. In 2019, the US attempted to build its own icebreakers. But structural problems including cost and time overruns, coupled with Helsinki’s diplomatic efforts, encouraged the US to look to Finland for production. In 2024, Finland’s campaign succeeded. At the NATO summit in Washington, the US, Canada, and Finland launched the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort Pact. Canada has already ordered two Finnish icebreakers, and Trump has stated that the US may do the same. In addition, Canadian shipyard Davie is buying Texas Gulf Coast Shipyard, which will help transfer Finnish icebreaker know-how to North America. Still, building icebreakers is a specialized process, meaning North American shipyards will not immediately be able to compete with their Finnish counterparts.
Italy: Leading European Defense Innovation
Italy is another example of how the White House rewards strategic long-term defense planning. In 2015, Rome made a concerted reinvestment in its defense industry. This policy shift has boosted Italy’s production of military technology, advanced weapons, and naval vessels. Italy’s Fincantieri is now one of Europe’s leading producers of warships.
Italy has also led the way in integrating European defense frameworks with the latest US technology. Italy is the only US ally other than Japan that operates facilities to assemble, repair, maintain, and upgrade F-35 fighter aircraft. It was also the first country to use F-35s in NATO’s Icelandic Air Policing mission. And in 2018, Italy joined the United Kingdom and Japan on Team Tempest, a joint program developing next-generation fighter aircraft. These strategic investments give Italy a foot in the door to the growing defense technological cooperation among the US, the UK, and their Indo-Pacific allies.
Key Takeaways
Finland and Italy have demonstrated that long-term strategic defense investments pay off. European allies on the forefront of defense industrial and security initiatives will have more sway in Washington as the US seeks to counter multiple rising global threats.
Diplomatic skills and timing are important. But the White House tends to give preferential access to nations that demonstrate a persistent commitment to bolstering their own self-defense capabilities while also addressing the broader security concerns of the US alliance system. Because the US remains the principal guarantor of European security, allies seeking to garner Trump’s favor should focus on leveraging their advantages to close gaps in US capabilities and help address the long list of global threats to security and stability.