How Europe Views Trump: Three Camps on a Fluid Map

With Donald Trump’s return to power, transatlantic relations enter a time of turmoil and deep uncertainty. Political, economic and strategic challenges are closely intertwined. Europeans are striving to engage with the Trump administration and negotiate the terms of a new, more transactional transatlantic partnership. In the short term, key priorities include ensuring that President Trump’s push to end to the war in Ukraine does not leave Kyiv vulnerable to further Russian aggression, and preventing a trade war across the Atlantic. At the same time, Europeans worry that the Trump administration might exploit the continent’s reliance on the US as a security guarantor and economic partner to advance its own priorities. The alignment of interests and narratives between President Trump and Elon Musk has further heightened European concerns. Trump’s references to the US taking control of the Panama Canal and of Greenland, while downplaying Canada’s sovereignty, alongside Elon Musk’s proactive endorsement of the far-right in Europe, have raised alarms about the potentially destabilising impact of the new US administration on both international affairs and domestic politics.