Trump trying to destabilise EU
pace and viciousness of his attacks have increased. Just this week, at a rally in North Dakota, Trump said: “The European Union, of course, was set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank.” He then complained about a $150 billion trade deficit with the EU, inflating the figure.
Trump defenders often say he is simply throwing out ideas to see what sticks. Some say his motives are more talk than action. Many cling to the hope that the president’s top diplomatic and military officials can still execute sound policy.
That was plausible during Trump’s first year in office, and European allies were relatively reassured. But during his second year, so far, Trump has shrugged off previous constraints. His new national security team can only try to tamp down fears and attempt to merge Trump’s “America First” mantra with a responsible strategy.
During an interview this week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the president is trying to “reset” the liberal world order, not dismantle it. Trump is being “disruptive” to force allies to agree to reforms needed to reflect US interests, he argued.
But these efforts to reassure Europe are failing. European officials no longer believe Trump’s words can be discounted. They don’t see the alliance rift as routine or temporary. They have no choice but to hedge and seek alternatives to US leadership.
If Europe doesn’t feel the United States is really on its side, the risk is that individual European nations turn to other geopolitical forces, and this is bad for America, Blair added.
Of course, Trump’s opinions closely track those of Putin, including on the status of Crimea, aid to Ukraine and Russia’s interference in the US elections. Overall, Trump’s attack on the EU and the US-Europe relationship is a huge strategic windfall for Russia.
“As long as there is a unified Europe that maintains a liberal international order with basic rules of the road, it is a disaster for a dictator like Putin,” former Vice President Joe
Biden told me. “That’s why Putin is doing what he’s doing.”
The United States and
Europe have had disputes before. It’s possible this one will get resolved eventually. Meanwhile, Trump is doing enormous and unnecessary damage. His intentional and egregious actions to undermine the EU, NATO and the United States’ relationship with both can no longer be discounted, rationalised or seen as anything but what they are – a brazen attempt to undo the strategic infrastructure both America and Europe need more than ever.