“This year our transatlantic family has an opportunity to celebrate what has held us together over the past 250 years — and, we hope, will hold us together for the next 250 years to come.”
Andrew Puzder
On June 28 in Brussels, our nation — so conceived and so dedicated — will celebrate the fact that it has long endured. And we are inviting our European friends to join us, not merely as our allies but in appreciation of their intellectual contributions to our founding.
Over the quarter of a millennium that has passed, alliances have shifted; foes have become friends and friends have become foes. But our shared heritage and the Enlightenment ideals that inspired our founding have never waned — nor will they. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. and Europe have remained the most steadfast of allies, drawn together by these shared ideals.
We each know President Donald Trump personally, and can assure you there has never been a president more committed to the Declaration’s ideals — to political liberty, freedom of speech and rule by consent of the governed — or to world peace and prosperity. We are extremely proud to serve in his administration.
The United States has had an embassy in Belgium for 192 years, since shortly after Belgium’s modern founding. It remains an active force for improving the economic, political and social ties between our two countries, whether involving our joint defense, cutting-edge companies or energy partnerships.
The U.S. and the EU have the largest trade relationship in the world. Just this past year, we entered into a comprehensive trade framework agreement, a memorandum of understanding on a strategic partnership on critical minerals, agreed on the Critical Minerals Action Plan, and the EU signed onto Pax Silica — an initiative looking to jointly secure supply chains related to artificial intelligence. We are also seeking to modernize NATO in the hopes that it will remain the bulwark of peace and security for Europe.
We have much to celebrate, and we cannot wait to do so with our good friends here in Brussels, on a night that will be remembered.
In every family, there will always be differences of opinion on social, political and economic issues. Nevertheless, this year our transatlantic family has an opportunity to celebrate what has held us together over the past 250 years — and, we hope, will hold us together for the next 250 years to come.
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