A cold shoulder and a warm embrace
Europeans react more kindly to Obama than Trump
Barack Obama and Donald Trump appeared in public at the same time in Europe on Thursday, but reactions could not have been starker.
The former president received a rock star welcome in Berlin, while his successor received bewildered looks from European leaders in Brussels.
Among the issues that could lead to a more fractious than friendly relationship between the Trump administration and Europe:
NATO
Trump chastised his colleagues for not contributing enough to their collective defense. “NATO members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations,” Trump said. “Twenty-three of 28 nations in the alliance are not paying what they should be paying for their defense. This is very unfair to the taxpayers of the USA.”
During the presidential campaign, Trump called NATO obsolete and said that before he would send U.S. troops to defend Europe, he would check whether members had met their defense spending obligations.
He backtracked on both issues and promised to increase the U.S. military presence in Europe.
Thursday, Trump noted “the commitments that bind us together as one” and promised to “never forsake the friends who stood by our side.”
Obama, who reduced the U.S. military presence in Europe before increasing it after Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, was committed to the alliance and had a more cooperative approach with European leaders.
EUROPEAN UNION
Trump angered European leaders in January, when he told British Prime Minister Theresa May that the Brexit, the British exit from the European Union, “is going to be a wonderful thing for your country.”
The move, approved in a referendum in June 2016, would help Britain re-establish its own identity, control immigration and engage in trade with whomever it wanted, Trump said. The reaction was harsh. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in March he would campaign for the secession of U.S. states, such as Ohio and Texas, if the U.S. president continued such talk.
Pro-EU Obama warned before the historic vote that if it went forward, the “U.K. is going to be in the back of the queue” on trade deals with the United States. “The U.K. is at its best when it’s helping to lead a strong European Union,” Obama said last April.
INTELLIGENCE LEAKS
May complained to Trump on Thursday about crime scene photos from Monday’s suicide bombing in Manchester, England, which were shared with intelligence agencies in the USA and other English-speaking countries, being leaked to The New York
Times. It was the latest controversy involving intelligence leaks during Trump’s presidency.
The White House said the alleged leaks “are deeply troubling ” and promised it “will get to the bottom of this,” and “if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Obama angered his European counterparts in 2013 when WikiLeaks published documents provided by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden that showed the U.S. intelligence agency had spied on foreign leaders.
Those leaders included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosted Obama’s visit Thursday.
Obama smoothed things over with his European counterparts, implementing changes he said would end U.S. spying on leaders of allies and close friends.
IMMIGRATION
Trump criticized EU immigration policies, which the president said welcome too many Muslim refugees who could pose a terror threat.
In 2016, Trump told Fox Business Network, “You go to Brussels — I was in Brussels a long time ago, 20 years ago, so beautiful, everything is so beautiful. It’s like living in a hellhole right now.”
Obama sent a clear message Thursday to Trump about his promise to build a wall along the Mexican border.
“In this new world we live in, we can’t isolate ourselves — we can’t hide behind a wall,” Obama said.
Immigration is a divisive issue in Europe that helped the Brexit pass and has fueled insurgent political campaigns across the continent. However, French anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen, whom Trump supported, was soundly defeated in that country’s presidential election this month. Merkel, who welcomed 1 million migrants to Germany, is in a strong position for re-election in September.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Trump has called global warming a “hoax,” while Obama is a strong proponent of environmental measures to combat climate change. That is in line with European thinking on the issue.
French President Emmanuel Macron urged Trump on Thursday to avoid hasty decisions on a global Paris climate treaty signed by Obama in 2016.
Trump said as a candidate that he would abandon the landmark pact.
Pope Francis, a leading voice for environmental concerns, urged Trump on Wednesday to change his stance on the issue
As a gift, the pope gave the president a copy of his encyclical on climate change.