Europe is caught in Trump’s ‘protection racket’

They have flattered him, congratulated him, praised his achievements and thanked him: anything to avoid upsetting the great man. This summer, Europeans learned how to « handle » Donald Trump, with obsequiousness and submission at first, with the goal of winning him over later. This approach appeared to have had some success. Yet it also left a lingering bitterness, a mix of humiliation and indignity. It raises a fundamental question: How far should one go to avoid displeasing a man whose worldview is radically different from our own?

At the end of June, at the most recent North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, held in The Hague, Netherlands, the Europeans, all while standing stiffly to attention, promised Trump they would substantially increase their military spending. At the end of July, in Turnberry, Scotland, the European Union capitulated before the American president. It accepted the unacceptable: 15% tariffs on European imports to the US; 0%, or nearly zero, on American goods sold in Europe. Europe gave in to Trump’s paranoid vision of America as having been cheated and impoverished by free trade with its European « allies. »

At the end of August, at the White House, united behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, national leaders from Germany, Finland, France and Italy, as well as senior EU and NATO representatives and the British prime minister, defended Kyiv’s cause. Trump appeared to listen: Should the warring parties come to a peace agreement, Washington would support the security guarantees the Europeans said they were prepared to give the Ukrainians.

Military dependence

All these developments are connected by a common thread. At every step, the Europeans’ overriding concern has been to prevent the US from disengaging from Ukraine. To enter negotiations with Russia, Zelensky needs America’s ongoing financial and military support. Trump has to be prevented from yielding to the temptation to withdraw. The « defeat » at Turnberry came, in part, as a result of this situation.

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