On Tuesday, European allies of the United States made a fateful trade decision which will allow Chinese telecom giant Huawei to begin developing the next generation of 5G wireless technology on the continent, a move which could seriously hinder U.S. efforts to lead the world in the cutting-edge cellular products of the future.

How big of a blow was the Huawei decision made by European leaders? So much so that former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich — a longtime supporter of President Donald Trump — called the move “the biggest strategic defeat for the United States since the early days of World War Two.”

Business Insider reports on the 5G deal cut by Huawei:

“Individual countries across the continent are set to follow the UK’s lead and allow Huawei a role in their future 5G networks, despite being on the end of intensive lobbying efforts from the Trump administration.

“Germany, Poland and the Netherlands are leaning towards allowing Huawei a role in future telecoms networks, while the French government confirmed in November it was ‘not following the position of the United States’ and refused to exclude Huawei from bidding for its 5G network.”

That led Gingrich to note in an interview with the BBC:

“I think people have got to wake up and understand this is a huge failure of our government bureaucracies to respond to a challenge we have seen coming.”

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) also expressed her concern over the UK-Huawei deal:

All of this might have been avoided if Trump hadn’t alienated Europe with a trade war and efforts to distance the U.S. from NATO, according to Business Insider:

“The developments show that, while the US continues to exert enormous lobbying power over policy in Europe, solidarity across the continent in the face of Washington’s lobbying efforts is acting as an increasingly powerful corrective.”

Guess this is all yet another example of the “winning” Trump promised when he was running for president.

Featured Image Via NBC News