The new US National Security Strategy, published on December 5, reflected the growing divide between Trump and Europe.
Veniamin Popov
“A large European majority wants peace, yet that desire is not translated into policy, in large measure because of those governments’ subversion of democratic processes,” the document states. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz immediately replied that European countries do not need US help to “save democracy in Europe.”
On December 9, in an interview with Politico, Trump further criticized European countries, saying that they are “weak” and “decaying” because of their immigration policies. In a number of other speeches, the US president argued that European countries are moving in the wrong direction.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massey’s bill on the withdrawal of the United States from NATO reflects the US’ general attitude towards EU leaders
Such statements have caused confusion in European capitals, which do not know how to respond to Trump. On the one hand, they are afraid of angering him even more. On the other, they must show their people that they are not American vassals. At the same time, a number of European political figures reproached the administration, arguing that Trump’s main goal was not peace in Ukraine, but rapprochement with Russia. They were also clearly aware that the US president’s dismissive attitude towards “decaying Europe” was only part of the problems facing European leaders, including budget deficits and the growing influence of right-wing forces. However, the short-sighted policy of the European ruling elites puts the Ukraine issue at the center of discussion. Trump insists on an early peaceful settlement, and the Europeans are thwarting his efforts in every possible way, pushing Kiev to continue the war.
The Euro-Atlantic schism grows deeper still
Even the New York Times, a newspaper usually sympathetic to European elites, concluded on December 10 that the Europeans are desperately split between hostile powers – Russia and the United States. Key decisions that will determine the future of Ukraine, and eventually of the European Union itself, are at stake.
Current European leaders are afraid to openly challenge the US president; however, former politicians are rather bold. Thus, former EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Josep Borrell stated that it is necessary to treat the United States as an adversary.
Figaro emphasized that Donald Trump has a dismal view of Europe, that he despises the continent, which, according to him, is in deep decline and in need of revival. On December 11, the Saudi newspaper Arab News wrote that the liberal European leaders, who rallied around Zelensky and sharply criticized Washington, were making a strategic mistake.
It should be noted that dissatisfaction with the US administration goes beyond the Ukraine conflict. Denmark, in a new threat assessment report conducted by the Danish military intelligence service, for the first time named the United States as a challenge for the country (this was reported by Berlingske).
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a recent interview with Le Point that “the West has ceased to be the center of the world…this is the demographic and geographic reality,” recalling that only 800 million people live in Western countries.
Some media platforms around the world have disseminated Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili’s statement that Brussels’ irresponsible policy has brought Europe to a “civilizational abyss.” Today, the US is addressing the problems that we have long been discussing. This is already an alarm signal within the West, and it should sober up Europe so that it can resolve the growing systemic deep political crisis, because economic stability is being lost, cultural identity is being destroyed, and the basis of the European idea is being questioned.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massey’s bill on the withdrawal of the United States from NATO reflects the US’ general attitude towards EU leaders. The bill argues that America’s membership in the alliance has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and no longer meets the interests of the United States.
The Spanish press supposed that Trump intends to increase pressure on the Ukrainian president, as well as on heads of European states. These leaders notified Zelensky that employees of the NABU anti-corruption structure received data from the United States on funds – approximately one billion dollars – belonging to the head of the Kiev regime withdrawn within the framework of corruption schemes. Washington may publish this data if the Ukrainian leader opposes a peace deal.
The US president himself has said more than once that he hopes a Ukraine peace deal will be signed before Christmas, i.e., before December 25.
The confrontation between Trump and European states is not only likely to continue, but also intensify. The US president has declared war on globalist liberals. The potential formation of an alliance between supporters of the Democratic Party in America and the ruling elites of Western European states will probably push the White House to take more decisive steps in defending its new line, which objectively lays a solid foundation for the normalization of US-Russian relations.
Veniamin Popov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, PhD in History
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