Poor Trump made the same mistake as his idol, Putin: he had thought he could quickly crush Ukraine, he thought Europe was already crushed.
Finally, Europe has accepted reality: that the Trump administration’s hostility to the ‘old continent’ is deep, but above all that the Trump administration’s hostility needs to be met with the same response.
Finally, in recent weeks, Europe has found the words, the tone and the rhythm needed to making itself not only heard, but also making the White House listen.
The recently unveiled report prepared in preparation for the Munich Security Conference (MSC), which will take place at the end of this week, is symptomatic. At the same time, through the ideas and the sharp way they were expressed, the document gives a clear signal that there is no turning back in the relations between the two sides of the Atlantic, that the times are gone when Donald the peacock was allowed to believe he was the king of the forest puffed up by his plume and impertinence.
In fact, the report prepared for the Munich conference sets the stage for a reversed framework scenario to 2025 one when US Vice-President JD Vance delivered some indigestible lessons. This year America will have to steel itself for a bitter dialogue.
But the European counteroffensive against Trump, which the MSC preparatory report somehow formalizes, began as early as 2025, behind the scenes. The start of 2026 was simply an acceleration at the level of public discourse.
In 2025, Europe’s response, delivered behind closed doors, was obvious and proved effective: European leaders formed a solid wall around Volodymyr Zelensky, solid enough to succeed in thwarting Trump’s attempts to hand over Ukraine to Putin.
In 2026, with Ukraine currently relatively secure, Europe’s response has suddenly opened several fronts:
- Trade. By concluding free trade agreements between the EU and Mercosur, and between the EU and India.
- Geopolitical and Security. By drowning the Trumpist approach to annex Greenland, respectively the icy welcome given to the Trumpist Peace Council which he sees as a privatized UN. The relationship with Canada improved, a fundamental aspect underlined at the Davos Forum.
- Political one. An unequivocal rejection of the Trump administration’s interference in the internal politics of some EU states – see the extraordinary case of Poland, where the American ambassador was quickly and firmly put in his place, both by the friends and political enemies of the Parliament speaker (unheard of for a US ally in Eastern Europe); as well as growing criticism of the shameless complicity between the White House and the MAGA movement with the far right in Europe. And the recent anti-EU Trumpist report of the House Judiciary Committee has not been exempt from European rebuke either.
- Political-economic. We are witnessing the beginning of a serious debate on limiting social media access for minors in Europe; see the summoning of Elon Musk to hearings by French prosecutors, along with the raid of the X headquarters in Paris.
- Military-economic. Reluctant for decades to commit serious financial investment to the development of their own strategic military autonomy, the Europeans were finally pushed by the distrust cultivated by Trump to take the big step. It is a complex and long-term commitment, but the outcome will be delicate for the US: its influence on Europe will diminish, and the volume of contracts for American military equipment in Europe will also decrease. This European response is underway, it is profound and at some point it will prove devastating for Washington.
- Social. At the grassroots, polls say that European citizens are deeply disturbed by Donald Trump’s behavior as an individual, but also by the direction in which the current American president is pushing both democracy in the US and in Europe, as well as the relationship between the two strategic partners. And finally at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Milan, Vice President JD Vance had the opportunity to see first-hand the level of contempt that people feel in Europe, both for him and his boss. Booed near an entire stadium, Vance would not be wrong if, on his return home, he warned the president that the booing episode could be just the beginning for the leaders of the current US administration and there will no longer be room in Europe for polite applause and hypocritical smiles. Also note comments made by the head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, who openly applauded the reaction of spectators at the San Siro stadium calling it “European pride”. Exasperated and gob smacked by Trump, Europe has had a sharp wake up call.
The fact that the mood in Europe, towards the Trump administration, has reached a peak is highlighted not only by the points listed above, not only by the extraordinary preparatory report of the MSC, but also by the US reaction to this report.
The reaction came from the US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whittaker. He rejected the criticism, but his tone was civilized and profoundly non-Trumpist, a sign not of goodwill and good faith, but of concern and anxiety at the level of diplomacy in Washington and perhaps the bizarre Trump administration.
Poor Trump made the same mistake as his idol, Putin: he had thought he could quickly crush Ukraine, he thought Europe was already crushed.
For those who are more sophisticated and awake than Donald Trump, the fact that Europe began to respond with the language of force to Trump wasn’t hard to predict (details in the link at the end).
And the fact that Europe has started to do this must be seen in a positive rather than a negative way in America.
Why?
Because this is the only way that there are genuine chances that the relationship between both sides of the Atlantic can recover and further exploit their mutual interests.
There is only one disruptive factor today, Donald Trump. Tolerating him indefinitely really won’t help anyone.
The Europeans finally seem to have understood this, and the Americans who still cherish the “old” America have every reason to thank them.
