Donald Trump will never be an ally, Josep Borrell has said, describing the president as a “geopolitical and economic shock” to Europeans
The European Union is facing a world dominated by “continental empires” and risks slipping into a vassal role under the US, the bloc’s former top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said.
In a Politico column published on Monday, Borrell argued that the EU appears “dangerously fragmented and weak.” This, he said, became clear after the bloc made nonreciprocal concessions to US President Donald Trump on defense spending and trade, and accepted a junior role in managing the Ukraine conflict.
Trump has pressured European NATO members to boost military spending, and has also agreed a trade deal with Brussels that imposes a 15% tariff on most EU exports, scraps duties on US industrial goods, and opens wide market access to American products. The deal has sparked a backlash from current and former EU officials, who say it heavily favors Washington.
“Home to just 5% of the global population and a widening economic gap with other major powers, Europe isn’t just facing up to a world of continental empires but is at real risk of becoming America’s vassal,” Borrell wrote.
He argued that any deals pushed by Trump serve only his own interests, saying the US president views contracts as binding “only on the other party – not him.”
Borrell added that even pledges by Europeans to spend 5% of GDP on defense and boost purchases of US arms and gas had not strengthened Trump’s commitment to collective security. Instead, Borrell wrote, everything from minerals agreements to weapons sales had turned into “a purely transactional affair” aimed at advancing US economic gains.
“It should be clear by now that Trump isn’t, and never will be, an ally. His America constitutes a huge geopolitical, economic and cultural shock to Europe,” the former EU foreign policy chief concluded.
Last month, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Trump had delivered a “brutal wake-up call” to the EU, exposing its weakness in “passivity and rigidity.” He urged reforms including scrapping internal trade barriers and issuing common debt to fund defense, infrastructure, and innovation, warning that a return to national sovereignty would only leave the EU more vulnerable to great powers.
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