Can the EU continue to parry Donald Trump’s contempt?
A former White House staffer says the president views the European project a fraud and a front for German interests
As US President Donald Trump imposes punitive tariffs on China, the EU could be next in line. The EU has been performing a complex balancing act to keep Trump from pouncing. So far it has succeeded — but that may become increasingly difficult. The US leader is due to decide later this month whether to impose levies on car imports, just as formal trade talks are set to start between Washington and Brussels. If Trump hasn’t followed through on his threats against the EU, it isn’t because he sees it as less of a foe in trade matters than China. In a recent essay on “the Trump Doctrine”, Michael Anton, a former White House staffer, says the president views the European project a fraud and a front for German interests. US tariffs on European goods, especially cars, would be a disaster not just for Germany, but also for the Central and Eastern European countries involved in making them. France, the country most opposed to opening up European markets to US agricultural producers, would be ...
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