​ROME — European leaders on Thursday made their first collective move since Donald Trump’s dramatic election victory by calling for a far more considerable emphasis on defense spending.

Many other strategic maneuvers are likely as the former president prepares to return to the White House.

Most European leaders were hesitant to take a strong public stand in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. Now that Mr. Trump is on his way to a second term, they are reaching out to protect themselves from disruptions.

First, there was a mad scramble to congratulate the president-elect early Wednesday. French President Emmanuel Macron was a few minutes before Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and well before U.S. media had officially called the race.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, among the continent’s most vocal leaders, hailed Mr. Trump’s victory and his likely policy shifts. On Wednesday, he intimated on social media that he and the president-elect had begun preparing their first steps.

“Mar-a-Lago calling,” Mr. Orban wrote on his X account, referencing Mr. Trump’s Florida home. “Just had my first phone conversation with President Trump since the elections. We have big plans for the future!”

The practical reactions came Thursday from a summit in Budapest and included calls for more European autonomy on defense. The summit was organized to shore up support for Ukraine, whose war against Russia approaches its third anniversary. 

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he would quickly end the conflict, most likely by halting or curtailing U.S. support for the struggling Ukrainian forces. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Mr. Trump vanquished on Tuesday, was widely expected to continue the strongly pro-Kyiv policies of the Biden administration, including tens of billions of dollars in economic and military aid to Ukraine.

While the fate of Ukraine and the prospect of an emboldened President Vladimir Putin in Russia weighs heavily on European leaders, analysts see increasing odds that the endgame for U.S.-European relations will be played out with an increasingly influential European right.

“Trump’s victory certainly gives the right-wing parties in Europe new legitimacy,” Gregory Alegi, a historian and political scientist with Rome’s LUISS University, told The Washington Times. “I think we’ll see the right-wing parties already in power have more influence and some of the more fringe parties will start to be seen as closer to the mainstream.”

How Mr. Trump’s ideological soulmates on the European right will treat Ukraine is far from clear.

Mr. Orban, the host of the European Security Summit on Thursday and a longtime Trump ally, is the most pro-Russian leader in the European Union. Ms. Meloni, meanwhile, may be Europe’s most ardent supporter of Ukrainian resistance and has volunteered to host next year’s summit on Ukrainian support.

Mr. Orban and Ms. Meloni are vying for the unofficial position of Europe’s “Trump whisperer” — the leader most able to understand and perhaps influence White House policy.

Self-reliance

A common message of the summit appeared to be that Mr. Trump’s “America First” policies meant Europeans must be prepared to do more for themselves. They fear Washington will be unable or unwilling to help economically, diplomatically or militarily as it has for decades.

Mr. Macron, a centrist, had a love-hate relationship with Mr. Trump during his first term in the White House. His quickness in congratulating Mr. Trump and his statements in Budapest may show an eagerness to serve as a trans-Atlantic bridge.

“Donald Trump was elected by the Americans to defend the interests of the Americans,” Mr. Macron said. “The question arises for us Europeans is whether we are ready to defend the interests of Europeans.”

Charles Michel, head of the 27-nation European Union executive arm in Brussels, agreed that the continent must become less reliant on the United States.

“We have to be more masters of our destiny,” he told The Associated Press. “Not because of Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, but because of our children.”

European conservatives are expressing concern about NATO’s role and trade. Mr. Trump has questioned support for NATO member states that spend too little on defense and has said he could even pull the U.S. out of the alliance. He also has threatened across-the-board tariffs on U.S. imported goods.

Mr. Orban will not be the only prominent Trump administration ally in Europe. Conservative populist parties are in power or coalition governments in the Netherlands and Slovakia and just scored a historic electoral breakthrough in Austria.

Georgina Wright, deputy director for international studies at Paris’ Institut Montaigne, said Mr. Trump’s victory should, in theory, act as a unifying force among European leaders, though it could likely do the opposite.

“The election should unite Europe,” Ms. Wright said in an interview. “But that does not mean Europe will actually unite.”

Some predict that Europe’s divisions will increase individual countries’ dependence on the U.S. That means they must learn to collaborate on Mr. Trump’s terms, at least for the next four years.

“Expect Europeans to flock to Mar-A-Lago in droves to demand preferential treatment over their neighbors,” former French Ambassador Gerard Araud said Thursday on social media.