You can’t “bully” a continent that is entirely dependent on you for its security. The Ukraine war has proven that Europe is utterly incapable of putting out a fire in its own back yard without American military and financial support.
America has also been utterly incapable of putting this out. Or even of handling Iran (which they didn't need to engage to begin with)
The article addresses that in the last couple of paragraphs.
"In effect, the administration is promoting European rearmament and European defense cooperation while simultaneously promoting politicians who oppose rearmament or defense cooperation."