A brief paragraph in a New York Times investigation into “How Elon Musk Executed His Takeover of the Federal Bureaucracy” held a message for Europe. The report describes how, with Donald Trump’s backing and even while Joe Biden was still in office, Musk prepared a team of aides who entered state services and collected intelligence, preparing for the assault that Musk launched right after Trump’s inauguration. “Mr. Musk’s stealth approach stunned both Democrats and civil servants. Failing to imagine an incursion from inside the bureaucracy, they were caught essentially defenseless,” the report noted. This is what hit the Europeans when Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense John Hegseth, and others, showed in no uncertain terms that they consider the EU a rival. It was “formed to screw the United States,” Trump declared a few days ago, announcing once again that he would impose stiff tariffs on European products.
On February 25, the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Europeans found themselves on opposite sides with the United States in a General Assembly vote, for the first time since 1945, when the United Nations were founded. The United States took Russia’s side in a vote against a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while European countries supported it (Greece included). This wretched historical development confirmed that Trump sees the world as an arena in which superpowers (or rather, “big men”) decide the fate of nations without any regard for allies or rules. And so, the United States ignore the Europeans when they discuss the fate of Ukraine with Russia. Furthermore, Trump is trying to get the Ukrainians to compensate the United States for their support in the war without providing any security guarantees. “We’re going to have Europe do that,” he said.
Although Trump’s belligerence towards the EU was known from his first term, the Europeans were surprised at the ferociousness and method of the latest attacks. Clearly, this time there is a system around Trump that can impose his will. Just as the Democrats and American civil servants did not imagine the destruction of government departments, so, too, the Europeans did not expect their chief ally to undermine the network of alliances that had so benefited both sides for the past 80 years, nor did they expect America to support extremist forces outside and within Europe which desire their Union’s destruction.
America did not need a “stealth approach” to get inside Europe. With NATO, with the matrix of bilateral relations between the United States and European countries, with 80 years of coexistence and consensus, Europe has depended on America for its security for many decades. It is estimated that if all US troops are withdrawn, the Europeans will have to come up with 300,000 to replace them, as 100,000 are stationed here and another 200,000 are slated to join them in an emergency. With Vladimir Putin greatly encouraged by Trump’s policy, the Union is like a body whose immune system is in danger at the moment that it needs it most.
If there is anything positive in all this, it is that – even at this late stage – relations between European countries are becoming stronger as they anxiously seek to deal with this unexpectedly great danger.