Donald Trump’s rise to power demonstrated that the current U.S. administration looks down on Western Europe - more than that, it sees the region as a freeloader.

Trump’s shift in position on Ukraine and his push to normalize relations with Russia caught Western European leaders off guard: to this day, they have been unable to adapt to the new circumstances. At the same time, they are doing everything they can to placate the American president. Meanwhile, Washington has been quite harsh in its words and actions toward those figures who are not sufficiently loyal to the U.S.

Immediately after the American elections, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stated that “the free world needs a new leader” (instead of the U.S. and Trump), and she was promptly restricted in her contacts with officials in Washington. She came to be seen as an undesirable and unintelligent figure - because she was too talkative.

The Americans also quickly marginalized German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who criticized the Trump administration’s policies at the Munich Security Conference in February. He notably said: “The new American administration has a completely different understanding of the world than we do. It pays no attention to the established rules of partnership and trust. We cannot change this and must accept it and find a way to live with it.”

After the G7 summit in Canada, which Trump left early, the American president scolded his allies for excluding Russia from the group and then harshly rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron, writing on his social media: “The publicity-seeking President of France, Emmanuel Macron, falsely claimed that I left the summit in Canada to return to Washington and work on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Not true! He has no idea why I’m heading back to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a ceasefire. It’s much more serious. Whether intentional or not, Emmanuel is always wrong.”

Trump called Macron “publicity-seeking” and emphasized that the French president “constantly gets everything mixed up.”

When the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Britain, and the EU met with Iran’s foreign minister in Geneva on June 20, the Europeans tried their hardest to convince Tehran to unconditionally surrender to Trump’s terms. However, the U.S. president immediately stated that Europe and its negotiations in Geneva would not help resolve Iran’s nuclear problem: “Iran does not want to talk to Europe; they want to talk to us. Europe can’t help here.”

According to some Russian political analysts, Europe’s toothlessness, lack of political weight, and military resources are clear signs that the EU and Britain have lost their status as a “pole” in a multipolar world.

The NATO Summit in The Hague Highlights Western Europe’s Vassal Dependence on the U.S.

Notably, ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24, there was much talk that Trump might not attend because not all NATO members had committed to spending at least 5% of GDP on defense.

Some European newspapers published articles questioning whether “NATO would survive the Hague summit.” Many NATO members breathed a sigh of relief when the meeting passed relatively smoothly - nearly all alliance members agreed to increase their military budgets to the 5% of GDP demanded by Trump, except for Spain. The American president, in his typical manner, immediately threatened Madrid with sanctions, including tariffs.

Officials from NATO’s 31 member states did everything they could not to irritate Trump, instead trying to flatter him - lavishing him with praise to prevent another sudden departure like at the G7 meeting. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte emerged as the champion of sycophancy, even calling Trump “Daddy.”

On June 26, The Washington Post published an article titled “Fear of Trump Dominated the NATO Summit,” which noted that only 28% of Western Europeans now consider the U.S. a reliable ally. Foreign Affairs magazine, citing polls on June 24, 2025, stated that 51% of Europeans see Trump as an enemy of Europe.

The Hague summit clearly demonstrated NATO members’ vassal-like dependence on Washington. Although the final declaration once again mentioned the “Russian threat” to the alliance, Trump emphasized in his speech that as long as he is U.S. president, no attack from Moscow should be expected.

Meanwhile, EU officials behave as the planet’s chief moralists, constantly lecturing others on what to do. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently declared that all EU members should take out loans to aid Ukraine. In early July, Kallas, while meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, persistently urged him to return to the fold of “common rules” (which are, in reality, written by the West). She also called on China to end its “distorting practices,” including restrictions on rare earth metal exports, and accused Beijing of posing “hybrid threats to Europe.” Such arrogance is especially striking against the backdrop of Beijing’s tremendous success in advancing AI platforms and electric vehicles - Xiaomic’s new model received 300,000 orders within one hour in early July.

Western European leaders remain stuck in the rut laid out by the Biden administration - with stubborn persistence, they repeat the mantra of unconditional aid to Ukraine while planning to include these expenses in their growing military budgets. However, this can only be done by cutting other budget allocations, such as social spending - as seen in the UK, where the Labour government (which by name should defend workers’ interests) proposed slashing disability benefits to save £5 billion. Even British newspapers expect 128 Labour MPs to rebel - 106 have already signed an amendment to block the bill.

Commenting on Keir Starmer’s first year in power, The Economist on July 2 noted that his government is in “troubled waters.” Starmer was forced to abandon cuts to the UK’s welfare budget after a major Labour rebellion. “The government’s poll numbers are bad” - people care more about their incomes and lower bills than GDP and clean energy. The Transport Workers’ Union passed a resolution calling for an end to military aid to Ukraine, and this influential Labour-affiliated group could impact elections. Some British papers believe Starmer should resign after these events.

The gap between self-serving elites and the public is widening - exemplified by former German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s blunt statement: “I don’t care about voters’ opinions; I know what needs to be done.”

The discrediting of these elites is accelerating. Recently, a French newspaper bitterly asked: “Where are our de Gaulles?”

The ideas of American economist Richard Wolff are gaining traction. He argues that late-stage capitalism is devouring its own structure, while privatization and austerity policies impoverish the working class and enrich the oligarchic elite. Housing crises, healthcare problems, and financial struggles are fuelling growing social discontent. Wolff stresses that the only way out is to acknowledge reality and revise policies - yet no Western state is ready for radical change.

The EU’s foreign policy is also facing increasing criticism:

On July 1, Al Jazeera published an article by Italian political analyst Andrea Teti titled “By Sacrificing Palestine, Europe Betrays Itself,” arguing that by refusing to act against Israel, EU states violate European and international law.

Many objective observers believe Western Europe’s dependence on key U.S. technologies will grow, further diminishing the EU’s independent role.

Veniamin Popov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ph.D. in History. Courtesy

https://journal-neo.su/2025/07/13/the-decline-of-western-europes-influence-and-prestige/