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European leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief Monday as Donald Trump focused his shots elsewhere during his inaugural address.
The new US president has promised to “impose tariffs and taxes on foreign countries to make the people richer,” and announced that he will withdraw from the Paris Agreement on carbon emission limits, which is the basis of EU policy, but he has not outlined any concrete measures. There wasn’t.
European leaders chose to ignore potential differences with the United States, with many congratulating the leader of a country that has been vital to Europe’s security and prosperity for 80 years.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa also congratulated Trump in similar messages posted on X, saying: “Rest in peace.” I sent it.
“The EU looks forward to working closely with you to address global challenges,” von der Leyen and Costa wrote.
We wish President @realDonaldTrump all the best in his tenure as the 47th President of the United States.
The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges.
Together, our societies can achieve greater prosperity and strengthen our common security.
this is…
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 20, 2025
Trump’s arrival as president has divided some right-wing groups and European politicians who look to his domestic policies, including a crackdown on illegal immigration, as a blueprint for Europe.
Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was the only EU leader invited to the inauguration, and von der Leyen and other senior EU officials have yet to meet with the new president.
Meloni has positioned himself as an interlocutor with Trump on behalf of the EU, saying, “Italy is committed to strengthening the dialogue between the United States and Europe as an essential pillar for the stability and growth of our communities.” I will always do my best,” he wrote.
A number of far-right party leaders, including from Belgium, Germany, Spain and France, also attended the inauguration.
They want Trump to weaken Brussels, increase control of the capital, reduce carbon emissions and reverse policies that crack down on online speech.
Hungarian far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Trump’s return would spur a resurgence of nationalist right-wing forces across Hungary. “With this, I begin the second phase of the offensive aimed at capturing Brussels,” he said on Monday.
Other politicians who have tried to align themselves with the new US president include Polish President Andrzej Duda, who told reporters shortly before departing for the World Economic Forum in Davos: We stand in the crowd (in Washington) and demonstrate this good relationship. ”
Meanwhile, EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels told the new US president: “The EU and the US have the world’s largest trade and investment relationship. There is a lot at stake here economically.” ”
He warned that if tariffs are imposed, the EU is prepared to retaliate with its own measures, as it did under former President Donald Trump. “If it is necessary to protect Europe’s economic interests, we are ready to do so,” Dombrovskis said.
President Trump also told Europe that it needed to increase its defense spending and proposed raising NATO contributions to 5% of GDP. Several Alliance member states remain below the current 2% target.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte promised on Monday that the alliance would increase military spending during the new president’s term. “With President Trump back in office, we will significantly increase defense spending and production,” Rutte wrote in X on Monday.
However, within the EU there is disagreement over how to fund the increase.
Guy Verhofstadt, former Belgian prime minister and president of pro-EU campaign group European Movement International, declared in X that the EU was “completely unprepared for this wild new world”. .
“Welcome to a new era of American rule by an oligarchy, where billionaire members of Mar-a-Lago decide American policy. And guess what? Protecting the European Union and the living standards of Europeans is It’s not on their priority list!”
EU business leaders are also bracing themselves for the next four years. A survey by AmCham EU, which represents US companies based in the EU, reported that nine out of 10 companies expected trade and investment relations between the EU and the US to deteriorate.
About two-thirds expected U.S. policy to have a negative impact on their business in the EU.
Additional reporting by Raphael Minder in Warsaw
