Securing Europe’s Future: Partnership Through Strength

Just like with tango, it takes two sides to sustain the transatlantic partnership: Europe and the United States. Since the reelection of U.S. President Donald Trump, European leaders have been seeking to engage him and his administration in discussions about both shared priorities and differences. They went through three increasingly uncomfortable phases in this endeavour. Back in November 2024, they started off in a pragmatic crisis prevention mode, seeking to match Trump’s supposed expectations with transactional deals, from trade to defence. Between late January and February 2025, they switched to damage limitation. Confronted with Washington’s mix of antagonism and neglect, the priority was avoiding the rapid degradation of the partnership.