US President Trump insults Europe and Ukraine, and flatters Russia. What goals could the United States of America set in foreign policy in the future?
Donald Trump returned to the White House six weeks ago. Already in that short period, the direction of the foreign policy for the next four years can be seen. Under Trump, Washington's relations with Moscow will be revitalized to the detriment of Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia. Instead of including European allies in that turn, the US administration is now emphasizing differences in once shared values, he notes Deutsche says.
On Wednesday (February 26.02), Trump said: "The EU was created to deceive the USA." And on Friday (February 28.02), the American president, together with his vice-president JD Vance, started an argument with Volodymyr Zelensky in front of the world public.
The Ukrainian president actually came to the White House to sign the rare metals agreement. Instead, Trump and Vance insulted him.
Is Trump a fool?čWhat about the Western world order?
Historian Norbert Fry, who heads the Center for the History of the 20th Century at the University of Jena, sees in all this the end of the world order that was established after the Second World War and after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"The goal is clear. A global triumvirate with Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Putin,” Fry told Deutschlandfunk.
"What Trump doesn't want to see is the US struggling as a declining world power." And they are currently rejecting their only remaining allies, namely Europe. And that Europe is now completely left to its own devices."
And because of this, diplomatic talks are underway in Europe to find a common answer - first at the summit in London, and then at the extraordinary summit in Brussels.
"I hope they recognize that this is a clear change of direction in world politics," said Mikhail Alekseev, a political scientist at the University of San Diego in California.
"The discussion in the Oval Room was not just an argument between the two leaders. It hides a signal of greater distance of the USA from Europe. We can no longer consider American security guarantees not only for Ukraine, but also for NATO as safe".
Even a year ago, in the pre-election campaign, Trump questioned Washington's military support for those NATO members that allocate less than the agreed sum for defense. He said he would "even encourage Russia to do whatever it wants." That's what Trump said in February 2024 during his appearance in South Carolina. On another occasion, he asked Europeans to invest five percent of their gross domestic product in defense.
Von Daniels: "A complete break with Europe is not in sight"
Laura von Daniels, who heads the Americas working group at the Berlin-based Foundation for Science and Politics (SWP), says that there has been a great deal of anxiety, but that a complete break in transatlantic relations cannot be discerned at the moment.
"I believe that the situation will be difficult, that he is ready to harm the interests of the European Union." Both in security and economic policy, let's say punitive tariffs. All of that is true. But it is not in his interest to break off all relations with Europe overnight."
Von Daniels points to Trump's economic plans, such as treating Europe as a major market for US liquefied natural gas. Therefore, the economic pressure will be increasing. "12. tariffs on steel and aluminum will be introduced in March," says Von Daniels. She adds that in the spring and summer, Europe has to reckon with the introduction of new customs duties, for example on cars.
Trump wants to use these measures to equalize the trade balance between the EU and the US. According to US data, in 2024, the United States bought goods and services worth almost one thousand billion euros more from the EU than the EU bought from the US.
Von Daniels believes that the existing transatlantic relations are useful for Trump. "Of course, the question is justified whether they are still defined as an alliance of Western values."
Gabriel: Trump hoćwill weaken Europe
Former Social Democratic Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who is now the head of the "Atlantic Bridge" organization, believes that the Trump administration no longer views Europe as an ally. Gabriel told a German newspaper that Trump "can't find anything in common with Europe, because his world view is almost completely opposite to our European notions of cooperation." I'm almost certain that he wants to weaken or even destroy Europe, because we are still pretty big if we stick together. It bothers him".
Regarding the upcoming talks between Trump and Putin on ending the war in Ukraine, Gabriel recalls the conference held in Yalta where the USA, Soviet Union and Great Britain decided to divide Germany before the end of the Second World War.
"Trump has a kind of 'Yalta 2.0' in mind, where the 'tough guys' of world politics would divide the world into spheres of interest, and the little ones have to see how they fare," Gabriel said.
Ukraine is an obstacle for direct negotiations with Putin
Laura von Daniels says that it is not clear what Trump's ultimate goal is, but it became clear on Friday that Ukraine is an obstacle on his way to direct negotiations with Putin. She said of the row in the Oval Office that it "has features of what we know about authoritarian heads of state."
The Washington Institute for the Study of War (Institute for the Study of War) published an analysis according to which the suspension of US military aid to Kiev would increase the "probability of a Russian victory" in Ukraine. Putin could be strengthened in achieving his strategic goal, in the pretension of increasing control over the former Soviet republics that are members of NATO, such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. And the influence of the United States in the world would decline.
