EEurope has been preparing for the challenges posed by Donald Trump’s return since the US presidential election in November, but the threat to European stability has emerged early and appears to be far more serious than even pessimists predicted. is.
President Trump has already revived his territorial aspirations for Greenland, making it clear that it is not a tasteless first-term joke, but an unfinished business he intends to resolve by any means necessary, including military means. It’s clear.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s financial backer and confidant, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has used his ownership of the X social media platform to aggressively advance the cause of Europe’s far-right parties and It is threatening the European continent, which is a nightmare. A resurgence of fascism, this time instigated by Washington.
President Trump’s stream-of-consciousness reflexivism for his second term is not limited to Europe. He believes that Canada should really be a U.S. nation, that the U.S. should take back ownership of the Panama Canal, and that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the Gulf of America, and that its restoration requires new He warns that there will be problems. Tariffs on America’s neighbors.
But the impact of President Trump’s territorial ambitions is being felt most keenly in Europe. The capital is in a dilemma over how to respond, between anger at the blatant interference in favor of extremists and fear of becoming the focus of Trump and Musk’s personal grievances.
What’s at stake is not just an impending transatlantic trade war with a president whose primary tool is tariffs. Ukraine and European security also remain in the balance. European leaders and diplomats say the war in Ukraine has entered a new phase, making it one of the crucial battlegrounds in which President Trump’s mind will decide whether to continue supplying U.S. weapons to Ukraine. I am doing it.
“European countries want to be able to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to go our own way and reduce our contact with the United States,'” said Elizabeth Breaux, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “But at the moment, Europe needs the United States to protect itself, and this is the fundamental dilemma facing European leaders.”
European countries are trying to shape the next president’s perception of how different outcomes will affect him. In particular, they are trying to convince him that supporting the transfer of large amounts of Ukrainian territory in the name of peace would make him look weak.
President Trump’s announcement of plans to meet with Vladimir Putin to “end the war” adds to the urgency to influence the next president, and talks at odds with Washington over Ukraine’s future It is becoming increasingly important to avoid entering.
Denmark, a NATO ally, is in a political crisis over President Trump’s stated intention to acquire Greenland and his threat to impose tariffs if it is blocked. Amidst a series of emergency meetings with the King and Greenlandic leaders, the Danish government has been careful about the wording of its response.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen dismissed President Trump’s first-term territorial claims as “ridiculous” and canceled a trip to Denmark in response. This week, she offered to speak to the president about the issue, but said it was “no surprise” that the president has a strategic interest in Greenland and the Arctic, and that the fate of the territory is a matter for Greenlanders. It added.
Europe’s dilemma is further complicated by the fact that Mr. Musk is a private citizen, but although he is extremely wealthy, he is, at least for now, within earshot of the president-elect. He is expected to become a member of the Trump administration and be assigned a gender identity. ”.
Musk used X as a megaphone to promote his far-right party Alternative for Germany, claiming that “only the AfD can save Germany.” On Thursday, Musk heaped praise on party leader Alice Weidell in a softball conversation with her.
This was a direct challenge to efforts by Germany’s mainstream political parties to isolate and remove the AfD from power ahead of a crucial February 23 election.
Musk’s actions on behalf of the AfD appeared to be a blatant violation of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), adopted in 2022 as a means to regulate tech companies such as X. In theory, the DSA would have fined companies 6% of their global revenue for non-compliance. However, X has been under investigation by the European Commission since December 2023 for DSA violations, including the use of deceptive practices, and so far there is no sign of punitive action.
“It is ironic, if not tragic, that just when you think you have taken steps to reduce the risk of interference from Russia, China, Iran, and perhaps North Korea, you are met with friendly fire,” Breaux said. That’s probably true.” ”
For Britain, which is outside the EU and has traditionally been beholden to its relationship with the United States, its response to Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk’s provocations was similarly tentative.
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Musk is reportedly obsessed with spreading far-right Islamophobic propaganda, calling for the removal of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the release of far-right extremist Tommy Robinson. On Friday, it was announced that his social media posts were being monitored by security authorities.
Mr. Musk has been promoting wildly distorted accounts of incidents dating back more than a decade, involving the sexual exploitation of young girls in the north of England by a gang of mostly Pakistani men.
Without providing any evidence, Mr Musk accused Mr Starmer, who was director of public prosecutions from 2008 to 2013, of complicity, even though he oversaw the belated prosecution of grooming gangs.
Fellow ministers are hesitant to react even after Mr Musk described security secretary Jess Phillips as an “apologist for rape and genocide” and threatened for her life.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he “disagreed” with Musk on the issue, acknowledging that Musk is “a passionate believer in free speech” but that free speech is “based on facts and facts.” He told the BBC’s Today programme. truth”.
One argument being made in Europe is that Trump’s early clarity on the threat to Western unity is prompting European capitals to focus on their own security.
“On the eve of President Trump’s second term, the United States and Europe have rarely looked more at odds,” a group of European foreign policy experts wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine. “But U.S. disengagement would give Europe an opportunity to become self-reliant and show the world that Europe can be a reliable ally in a region where the U.S. is beginning to lose ground.”
Some believe this “wishful thinking” argument is just wishful thinking, given Europe’s limited ability to produce the weapons Ukraine needs and the continent’s division. .
“There are big differences between these countries,” Blau says. “And with all these tensions with Washington, the fundamental differences over what European countries stand for and what they want to achieve will become increasingly clear.”
