Vance in Munich: Europe's Biggest Threat Is 'the Threat From Within' — and 'There Is a New Sheriff in Town' (February 14, 2025)

Vice President JD Vance went to Germany and told Europe’s leaders that their biggest danger was at home. While the Trump administration wants Europe to do more for its own defense, Vance said, “the threat that I worry the most about vis-à-vis Europe is not Russia, it’s not China, it’s not any other external actor.” [1]

“And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values — values shared with the United States of America,” he said [1].

He spoke at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14, 2025, according to the transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

The video above shows Vance in Munich on Feb. 14, 2025. Quotes are from the American Presidency Project and Fox News [1][2].

”You Guys Can Survive a Few Months of Elon Musk”

Vance said speaking up was not election interference, even when the speakers were influential foreigners. “And trust me, I say this with all humor, if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thun- — Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk,” he said [1].

“But what German democracy — what no democracy — American, German, or European — will survive is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief are invalid or unworthy of even being considered,” Vance said [1].

“Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t,” he said [1].

”Silently Praying for Three Minutes”

Vance listed cases across Europe. “A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes — not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own,” he said [1].

“I look to Sweden, where, two weeks ago, the government convicted a Christian activist for participating in Quran burnings that resulted in his friend’s murder,” Vance said [1].

In Germany, Vance said, police had carried out raids against “citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online.” [1]

“A New Sheriff in Town”

Vance said censorship had come from Washington too. “I will admit that sometimes the loudest voices for censorship have come not from within Europe but from within my own country, where the prior administration threatened and bullied social media companies to censor so-called misinformation,” he said [1].

“Misinformation like, for example, the idea that coronavirus had likely leaped fr- — leaked from a laboratory in China. Our own government encouraged private companies to silence people who dared to utter what turned out to be an obvious truth,” Vance said [1].

“In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town. And under Donald Trump’s leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree,” he said, to applause [1].

”Romania Straight Up Canceled the Results”

Vance pointed to Romania. He said the situation had gotten so bad that “Romania straight up canceled the results of a presidential election based on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors.” [1]

“Now, I was struck that a former European commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election,” Vance said [1].

“We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them,” he said [1].

Vance recalled the Cold War regimes that censored dissidents and closed churches. “Were they the good guys? Certainly not, and thank God they lost the Cold War,” he said. “As it turns out, you can’t mandate innovation or creativity, just as you can’t force people what to think, what to feel, or what to believe.” [1]

“Nothing More Urgent Than Mass Migration”

Of the “challenges that the nations represented here face,” Vance said, “I believe there is nothing more urgent than mass migration.” [1]

“Today, almost one in five people living in this country moved here from abroad. That is, of course, an all-time high. It’s a similar number, by the way, in the United States — also an all-time high,” he said [1].

By the Numbers

10 years: of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, per Vance [1].
Almost 1 in 5: people in Germany who moved there from abroad, per Vance [1].
Doubled: immigrants entering the EU from non-EU countries between 2021 and 2022, per Vance [1].

What Happened Next

Rubio acted on censorship. On May 28, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on foreign officials who censor Americans. “For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,” Rubio wrote, Fox News reported [2].

“Free speech is essential to the American way of life – a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority,” Rubio wrote. “Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country.” [2]

For Trump on the Russia-Ukraine talks four days later, see HYGO News’ page on Feb. 18, 2025. For NATO agreeing to spend 5 percent, see the page on Trump and Mark Rutte, March 13, 2025.