Optimists cling to a faith in the old alliance, but the best we can achieve is an amicable divorce
I
s the transatlantic rupture temporary or structural? Is Donald Trump the cause of the rift, or is the US president only a symptom of underlying trends? Optimists latch on to the hope that the stability we have lost can be restored post-Trump. Having spent the past few days in Washington, I doubt it.
Even in recent history, things were not quite so bad for the transatlantic relationship. The current tensions make the first Trump administration look like a walk in the park for Europeans. It is one thing to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump did in his first term. It is quite another to bomb Iran and give Israel the green light for its war against the regime.
It is one thing to be threatened with tariffs, and have to offer empty promises, as Jean-Claude Juncker did, to buy more US goods. It is quite another to swallow 15% US tariffs, leaving a queasy-looking Ursula von der Leyen giving a thumbs up for the cameras next to a smirking Trump.
