The uncertain future of EU-US relations under a second Donald Trump presidency will be one of the main issues when European leaders meet in Budapest, Euronews reports.
A large contingency of European leaders, including most members of the European Union, have descended onto Budapest for a high-level meeting that is set to be dominated by one burning question: How do we deal with Donald Trump?
From Brussels to Warsaw, capitals are still processing the Republican’s surprisingly strong victory and wondering what his second US presidency might mean for the continent’s immediate future, already under duress by multiple challenges at home.
Among his campaign promises, Trump has floated a plan to impose across-the-board tariffs on all foreign-made products coming into the United States, which, if enacted, could wreak untold havoc on Europe’s export-reliant economy. His hardline policy against China might force Beijing to redirect its trade flows to the continent and bring in a new flood of cheap goods that further upend market competition.
The billionaire is also expected to promote domestic fossil fuel industries, pull out (again) of the Paris Agreement and hamper global efforts to mitigate climate change.
But for European leaders, Ukraine and NATO will be top-of-the-mind.
Trump has openly threatened to revise, or even cut off, Washington’s financial and military assistance to the war-torn country and bragged he would “encourage” Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” with NATO members that fail to meet spending targets. His promise to strike a deal to end the war in “24 hours” is stoking fears that he could impose painful territorial concessions on Kyiv to Moscow’s benefit.
Throughout his first term, Trump adopted a markedly transactional approach to foreign policy, treating diplomacy as a negotiation based on a return-of-investment mindset rather than on long-cherished principles. The approach proved particularly problematic for the EU, a supranational entity that relies heavily on the rules-based multilateral system to advance its interests. The collapse of the World Trade Organization’s settlement dispute bears witness to his disruption.
“We’re prepared for any bumps that might appear, it’s not our first rodeo,” a senior diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We will do that, as we always do with America, in the spirit of dialogue but also of strength.”
In anticipation of the US elections, the European Commission established a dedicated task force to prepare for possible scenarios, reflecting how high the stakes have become for the bloc. Still, Trump’s inherent unpredictability makes it difficult, not to say impossible, for any country or institution to plan ahead.
The EU is “ready to face the challenges of the world and defend its values, with all its partners and allies. And that remains, whatever the outcome of the elections here or there can be,” insisted another diplomat.