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The Donald Trump boomerang effect
Instead of wallowing in despair over the fraying security alliance, Europe has fostered an unexpected sense of purpose and unity.
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Cooperation amid chaos: European Union flags flutter outside the European Commission headquarters June 5, 2020, in Brussels. (Reuters/Yves Herman)
U
nited States President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office stand out as one of the most volatile periods in American history, arguably the most turbulent in peacetime. And the consequences continue to reverberate far beyond the US, as demonstrated by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s federal election victory following a campaign defined by sharp opposition to Trump’s agenda.
For European countries and other long-standing US allies, the start of Trump’s second term has posed a direct challenge to the foundational pillars of the transatlantic alliance, namely security, defense, trade and shared democratic values, all of which Trump views as negotiable.
The European Union, long dependent on the US security umbrella, has found itself facing threats of trade wars and relentless attacks from Trump and his allies, most notably Vice President J.D. Vance and the ubiquitous (though perhaps fading) tech billionaire Elon Musk. But instead of wallowing in despair over the fraying security alliance, these provocations have fostered an unexpected sense of purpose and unity in Europe.
I call this the “Trump Boomerang Effect”. Paradoxically, Trump’s attempts to weaken America’s allies, whether Canada, Mexico, Australia, Denmark or the European Union, have energized them politically and encouraged them to become more self-reliant. Trump’s ham-fisted effort to extract concessions has instead reinforced their national resolve and solidarity.
The fallout has also hurt the popularity of Trump-aligned cheerleaders worldwide, from Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre (who lost the parliamentary seat he had held for over 20 years) to Australia’s Peter Dutton, Greenland’s self-proclaimed Trump protégé Jorgen Boassen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Perhaps most strikingly, Trump’s campaign to undermine Europe has prompted political leaders to display a surprising degree of courage and confront long-standing challenges. By trying to bully the EU, he has inadvertently empowered member states to achieve goals that once seemed unattainable through internal negotiations alone.
As a result, Europe has emerged as a beacon of economic and political stability, attracting capital inflows and US-based researchers considering relocation. Meanwhile, far-right leaders across the continent, with the notable exception of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, have seen their popularity decline due to their association with Trump, offsetting the boost that Trump’s re-election gave figures like Orbán.
