On many levels, this year’s Paris Air Show was historic with the launch of two new, stealthy Western fighter programs that will dominate investment for Europe’s leading nations for the coming decade.

At Le Bourget, France, Germany and Spain launched the New Generation Fighter, the manned element of the bigger Future Combat Air System program — SCAF in French — spearheaded by France’s Dassault Aviation and Airbus that is to include closely networked manned and unmanned combat aircraft. It constitutes many years of public and private work in Europe and France in particular on new stealthy manned and unmanned aircraft, including the Neuron demonstrator that was launched in 2006.

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Now that President Trump has declared a national emergency to build his border wall, all eyes are on what will be cut to free the additional $7.5 billion he wants as a down payment for the project.

Rather than the wall, that money would be better spend on buying new systems and capabilities the United States desperately needs as it faces rising global powers.

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Bluffing may work in poker and real estate, but not when dealing with the most dangerous country in the world. And history has taught that escalating rhetoric by inexperienced or misguided leaders has unintended consequences.

Since 1909, the Paris Air Show has served as a showcase where the newest military-, commercial- and general-aviation aircraft make their international debuts.

And for years, organizers have been hungry to feature the F-35 Lighting II, a game-changing Lockheed Martin jet that promises to transform air combat with its stealth and sophisticated sensor and networking capabilities.