From nationalism to NATO spending, the trans-Atlantic relationship under US President Donald Trump is worse than it has been in decades. But, note practitioners and scholars, it doesn’t have to stay that way.
No American president in recent memory has been as dismissive and at times as openly hostile towards Europe and the trans-Atlantic alliance as Donald Trump. Indeed, the first foreign politician to be received by President-elect Trump after his stunning election victory was Nigel Farage — the architect of Britain’s exit from the EU. Once in office, Trump repeatedly lashed out against German automakers and the country’s trade surplus with the US, reportedly stating that “the Germans are bad, very bad.” He also called NATO members who he said do not pay their fare share freeloaders, pulled the US out of the Paris climate deal and has remained mum on rising illiberal tendencies in several European countries.
Anthony Gardner, who as President Barack Obama’s US ambassador to the EU from 2014 to 2017 was at the forefront of dealing with the fallout of the Snowden revelations that rocked US-European ties in 2013, argues that the trans-Atlantic fissures run deeper and are more fundamental under Trump than under any of his modern predecessors.
Revisionist view
“The United States under this president has a revisionist view of history. Specifically it views the multilateral rules-based order as having undermined US interests. I think this is profoundly incorrect,” he said. Gardner added that there has never been a sitting US president who has directly attacked Washington’s closest allies, including Germany, and who has been so extremely critical of the EU.
For more read the full of article at the DW
