Democrats Say They Are Going to Munich to Do Damage Control for Trump

Democratic lawmakers are traveling to this week’s Munich Security Conference to send a message to European allies: Congress still sees the transatlantic alliance as a core U.S. interest, even if President Donald Trump doesn’t always seem to.

At least 50 U.S. lawmakers are expected to attend the conference, which runs Friday through Sunday in Munich, provided a funding lapse at the Department of Homeland Security doesn’t keep them in Washington. The lawmakers headed to Munich come from both parties, and Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, are expected to attend. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making the trip as well.

Democrats are particularly focused on what they see as a crucial reassurance mission to allies. Several lawmakers told NOTUS they want to meet privately with European leaders to calm rattled nerves.

“I hope to work with our European allies and let them know that the United States is still [an ally] and we are working together in a multilateral way; that we’re not America only, America by ourselves, that we have respect for them, that our national security interests are linked,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Munich Security Report 2026, which is released annually by the organizers ahead of the conference, said the world has entered an era of “wrecking-ball politics” and labels Trump one of its leading “demolition men.”

Munich Security Conference Chair Wolfgang Ischinger said Monday that transatlantic ties are “in a considerable crisis of trust and credibility.” He said that is why it is “particularly gratifying” that the American side is showing such strong interest in Munich.

Last year’s conference heightened some tensions rather than easing them. Vice President JD Vance accused European leaders of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration. The comments by Vance, who also met Alice Weidel, the leader of the controversial far-right AfD party, began a series of criticisms of Europe by members of the Trump administration that have unsettled Washington’s European allies.

Trump’s push to acquire Greenland, tariff threats and the uncertainty around his Ukraine policy have done little to help matters in the time since.

Rubio is expected to give a major speech Saturday, and Democrats said they are hoping for a softer approach.

Sen. Mark Kelly said he hopes Rubio carries “a different message” in Munich than that of the president.

Kelly framed the trip as both a reassurance mission and a test of whether the administration can stay anchored in what he called a postwar “values-based approach.”

“I think if we can reassure our allies that many of us on both sides of the aisle here … value these alliances,” he said.

Sen. Chris Coons said lawmakers are going to “meet with heads of state, defense ministers, foreign ministers, from literally two dozen allies” and said he sees Munich as a chance to offer reassurance directly to allied leaders.

Organizers are expecting more than 200 senior officials from roughly 120 countries, including more than 60 heads of state and government, more than 65 foreign ministers and more than 30 defense ministers, along with senior representatives from dozens of international organizations.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he has heard “deep and urgent concern about the viability of our alliances” from European leaders about tariffs, Ukraine aid and more.

“I think Trump has done more to undermine American policy, American foreign policy and commitment to alliances than any president in recent history,” Blumenthal said. “He’s a wrecking ball.”

Daniel Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland and now a fellow at the Atlantic Council, said European anxiety is not new but that Trump has added a sharper edge.

“What is new is that Trump is particularly mercurial, insulting, belligerent and has engaged in threats of actual aggression, such as against Greenland, for which there really is no precedent, and for which there is no excuse,” he said.

Fried said the Munich conference could go two ways. He pointed to one element of Trump’s comments on Europe that could be constructive: the idea that Europe should do more for its own defense, something past presidents have also backed.

“The U.S. has, for decades, warned Europe to do more for its own fence,” Fried said.

Some Republicans on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees told NOTUS they are not attending, including Sens. James Risch, Mike Rounds, Pete Ricketts and Tommy Tuberville.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said he hopes to travel to the conference and that “it’s important for us to show up.”

“Most of the benefit has less to do with going to any of these sessions or even speaking at them,” Tillis said. “It’s more to do with the government-to-government meetings that we’ll have.”

All of this could depend on whether members of Congress make the trip. Meeks suggested that domestic negotiations could still affect whether he gets out the door.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday that “people have to make their own decisions about” whether to go to Munich.

Another Republican took a stronger stand against lawmakers leaving town if DHS funding isn’t resolved.

“I have to tell you, I’d be personally embarrassed to be getting on a plane to go to Europe to talk about the defense of Europe when you haven’t finished the defense in the United States,” House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole told NOTUS.