Just some time ago, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was still working closely with European partners to push back against Russia’s military action in Ukraine.
His approach reflected what R. Nicholas Burns, a top American diplomat, described as the method by which the United States maintains global strength and economic influence, by maintaining good ties with its allies. But Donald Trump appears to follow a different approach.
He has long treated European countries not as close partners but more like competitors draining American strength.
His latest move on Thursday, placing newly calculated tariffs on traditional partners like Ukraine while leaving out countries such as Russia and North Korea, shows how willing he is to damage long-standing ties with Europe, which many believe helped prevent major wars across the continent since World War II.
That action, along with Trump’s earlier statements pushing NATO countries to spend up to 5 percent of their economic output on defense and his comments about wanting land from Denmark, a NATO member, adds pressure to a relationship with Europe that already seems deeply wounded.
Guntram Wolff, an economist who once headed the German Council on Foreign Relations, said the tariffs only strengthened the European belief that Donald Trump’s America is not only unpredictable but also cannot be relied on at all.
He said this marks a break from nearly 80 years of postwar cooperation, where the US-Europe alliance formed the foundation of global cooperation and Western unity. Even though officials in Brussels may want to protect what is left of those partnerships, Mr. Wolff said Europe cannot maintain global stability alone.
Russia Appears to Gain While Europe Carries the Weight
Trump’s efforts to reshape how international relations work seem to help Russia more than anyone else. NATO’s biggest opponent, the Kremlin, could now face fewer strong rivals across Europe, though the drop in oil prices on Friday also hurt Russia’s economy.
“There’s no method to the mess,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, on Thursday. She said the United States’ decision to impose tariffs on all of its trading partners at once created confusion, worsened economic strain, and made things harder for the weakest groups in society.
There’s a growing sense in Europe that Trump, if given a second term and surrounded by advisers who share his views, will waste no time pulling away from the continent. Mark Leonard, who leads the European Council on Foreign Relations, said what surprises people is not just Trump’s direction, but how quickly and forcefully he seems to be pushing his agenda.
Some European leaders believed they could manage Trump’s demands through straightforward deals, buying more military goods, increasing purchases of natural gas, and taking on more military responsibilities. But events in recent weeks have shown that this strategy is failing.
This includes the uneven way the Trump administration applies tariffs, such as demanding natural resources from Ukraine in return for ongoing military support.
European Leaders Are Struggling to Respond
Mr. Leonard warned that Europe is now faced with a version of the United States that acts more like a threat than a partner.
He said the administration is using America’s power to pressure smaller countries, like when Trump talked about taking Greenland or when he tries to split the United Kingdom from the European Union by offering separate trade agreements.
At the moment, the European Union is still staying united, partly because Trump applied the same 20 percent tariffs to all 27 EU countries, including Hungary, Slovakia, and Italy, which usually support him more than others.
But some fear Washington might later switch to using different tariffs against individual countries, such as Denmark, to push for specific outcomes like the Greenland dispute.
There’s a widespread belief that these tariffs might be just the beginning of a longer negotiation. On X, Trump’s son Eric suggested that countries should quickly make trade deals or risk losing out entirely. “The first to negotiate will win, the last will lose,” he wrote.
Sophia Besch, a German policy expert based in Washington, said the administration seems to be giving two very different signals.
It’s unclear whether this is just a rough starting point for negotiations or if the goal is to break apart the existing system and avoid rebuilding it at all. She said Trump’s inner circle appears to be pushing different agendas without a single clear plan.
Security and Trade Are Closely Tied
Even though military support and economic tariffs are separate issues, many experts agree they are now being treated as part of the same effort.
Ms. Besch and others said Trump has shown a willingness to use American influence without concern for how it affects close partners, their citizens, or the most vulnerable groups that may face rising prices and heavier tax burdens.
Marco Rubio, who now serves as Secretary of State, tried to reassure allies during a NATO meeting in Brussels. He used a mix of calming words and strong warnings.
While criticizing the media for overreacting, he also said Trump remains supportive of NATO and its joint defense mission. “President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO,” Rubio said. “We’re going to remain in NATO.” But Trump’s idea of NATO is very different.
According to Rubio, Trump wants European countries to take full responsibility for their defense and for helping Ukraine. This change is because the United States now wants to pay more attention to Asia. “He’s not going to back a NATO that lacks the tools and readiness to carry out what the alliance promises,” Rubio explained.
Tariffs May Undermine Europe’s Military Spending Goals
As European countries try to increase their military budgets to reach NATO’s suggested 3.5 percent of GDP and even higher, to the 5 percent Trump wants, the economic pressure from these new tariffs could make that extremely difficult. The added costs may lower economic growth and trigger inflation.
For Germany, which is among the wealthiest countries in Europe, the financial blow could be serious. Finance Minister Jörg Kukies estimated that German exports to the United States could fall by 15 percent. He said Germany will continue to try to work out better trade terms with Washington.
Meanwhile, Brussels is expected to answer the tariffs with a strong response, though done carefully. The German Economic Institute predicted that these tariffs could cost Germany alone about 200 billion euros, or $218 billion, in the next four years.
To limit their losses, European countries are now expected to look for other business partnerships. Maggie Switek, a lead economist at the Milken Institute, said the European Union will increase efforts to boost trade deals with partners like Mexico and Canada.
She also mentioned that there is still space for cooperation with US-based companies, even if the political climate is uncertain. “We need to rethink the new American approach and see where we can still work together,” she added.
Russia Watches From the Sidelines and Celebrates
Russia, which has few trade ties with the United States due to restrictions, is watching as these American policies weaken its rivals. Dmitri Medvedev, a former Russian president, reacted with satisfaction on X, praising the damage done.
He quoted an old Chinese saying, stating that Russia would simply wait by the river, watching for its opponent’s body to float past, referring to what he claimed was the economic decline of the European Union.
