Final spring, U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson launched the Trump Derangement Syndrome Analysis Act, a invoice ordering the nation’s Nationwide Institutes of Well being to analysis why anybody would despise Trump and his insurance policies. Some overseas policymakers may very properly be affected by the same syndrome: an onset of tension that leads them to undertake mind-boggling insurance policies. One such instance is the commerce settlement that Japan signed with the USA final yr, which pledged that $550 billion in Japanese taxpayers’ cash will likely be spent in the USA by January 2029.
Thus far, European leaders have managed to dodge the worst signs of this harmful syndrome. Regardless of claims on the contrary, the U.S.-European Union commerce deal struck in July is much from a European capitulation. As an alternative, Brussels appears already to have realized some classes for dealing with Trump. First, Brussels averted losing time making an attempt to speak Trump out of his love for tariffs and settled for 15 p.c. Second, EU leaders neatly resisted the urge to impose retaliatory tariffs that might solely have damage their very own firms and shoppers. Third, the EU targeted on unity: particular person European governments managed to suppress their instincts to hurry to Washington to ink bilateral offers, which might have weakened the EU’s collective bargaining energy.
Final spring, U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson launched the Trump Derangement Syndrome Analysis Act, a invoice ordering the nation’s Nationwide Institutes of Well being to analysis why anybody would despise Trump and his insurance policies. Some overseas policymakers may very properly be affected by the same syndrome: an onset of tension that leads them to undertake mind-boggling insurance policies. One such instance is the commerce settlement that Japan signed with the USA final yr, which pledged that $550 billion in Japanese taxpayers’ cash will likely be spent in the USA by January 2029.
Thus far, European leaders have managed to dodge the worst signs of this harmful syndrome. Regardless of claims on the contrary, the U.S.-European Union commerce deal struck in July is much from a European capitulation. As an alternative, Brussels appears already to have realized some classes for dealing with Trump. First, Brussels averted losing time making an attempt to speak Trump out of his love for tariffs and settled for 15 p.c. Second, EU leaders neatly resisted the urge to impose retaliatory tariffs that might solely have damage their very own firms and shoppers. Third, the EU targeted on unity: particular person European governments managed to suppress their instincts to hurry to Washington to ink bilateral offers, which might have weakened the EU’s collective bargaining energy.
In 2026 European leaders may have ample alternative to refine their playbook for managing Trump. A primary transatlantic battle issues Ukraine. In November, a proposed U.S.-Russian peace deal over the Europeans’ and Ukrainians’ heads made it very clear that Trump has his eyes set on $300 billion in frozen Russian central financial institution reserves, held primarily in Belgium and, to a lesser extent, France and different EU states. Second, Washington will most likely pile on the stress to pressure Europe to water down its digital guidelines—together with for transparency, content material moderation, and knowledge privateness—in return for decrease tariffs on EU-made metal. Third, this yr’s G-20 summit at a Trump-owned golf resort close to Miami, Florida, could also be filled with surprises. It’s not laborious to think about Trump utilizing the gathering as a golden alternative to persuade and coerce leaders representing greater than 80 p.c of the worldwide financial system to signal bilateral offers benefiting the USA. To wage these three battles, the EU might want to hold calm and stick with it. For Europe, self-help and unity stay the mantras of the day.
