The European capitulation
Trump has Europe in his sights. The US president is not a man of ideas, nor is he interested in culture. He views the world through a peephole and thinks only in terms of domination: imposing his perception of things as an emanation of a superior being. And this is especially true of Europe, which bothers him to the extent that Europeans don't always laugh at his jokes; on the contrary, they often provoke rejection and distrust. The danger arises when the Old Continent is experiencing a phase of peculiar weakness and bewilderment, as if it were unable to find its place in the world. The leadership of the European Union leaves much to be desired. There is currently neither a project nor a political authority to chart a shared course. And Trump takes advantage of this, as he did with the humiliating meeting with Von der Leyen on a golf course, an iconic symbol of the subservience of European leaders.
The eastern borders, with the war in Ukraine and with countries like Hungary with one foot in each country, do not create a scenario of trust and security. At the same time, many things are teetering in the major European countries. Right now, France, under the leadership of a bewildered Macron who was supposed to conquer the world but is now losing control of the country, offers no vision of ambition; on the contrary, the pettiness of partisan squabbles in a landscape where the government is focused on what's happening year after year. And in Germany, Friedrich Merz is paying homage to Benjamin Netanyahu just as the latter is making all sorts of maneuvers to avoid prosecution. There is no country leading the Union, as European institutions are flatter than ever. There is no vision of Europe that unites countries with ambitions for the future. Everyone is simply patching things up as best they can. But Europe is in disarray. Dependent on others and without a truly shared ambition. Everyone eyeing each other askance.
In this context, Trump has found a way to unleash his delusions. However much he may dream of immortality, Trump knows that if he wants to make a name for himself, he must move quickly, because at his age everything is done against the clock. And with his fantasies of controlling the world, insofar as he believes Europe no longer matters, he amuses himself by ridiculing it daily and expressing his desire to interfere. His argument is that either he—and his cronies—guarantees order or the decline of the Union. And that is why he ridicules it whenever he can and seeks avenues for intervention, as he has proclaimed in his national security strategy: a Europe as an American appendage, which is how he has always believed it should be: no recognition and complete submission.
Is Europe in a position to defend itself? Does Trump have room to influence our countries? More than him, it is the powers behind the scenes that are indeed striving to penetrate Europe, and the entire communications system clearly plays a fundamental role here. The game is being played out on social media. Trump will pass, but those powers he's doing the work for will remain. And yet, if we want to play politics on a grand scale, the US-Europe dialectic should be fundamental. But not in terms of submission, control, or the liquidation of European distinctiveness, which is what plagues Trump, but rather, on the contrary, in terms of mutual respect and recognition. The question is whether we're already too late. And the answer, at a time when European liberal right-wing parties, with hardly any exceptions, are already taking the step toward radicalization and have lifted the taboo on pacts with the far right, is that the normalization of the far right seems unstoppable.
When the new authoritarianisms appeared in Europe, the watchword—whether out of conviction or mere formality—was the taboo against the far right: isolate it, not a single concession. Now this is over. Parliamentary mathematics trumps convictions. With the left in decline, the right wing, unashamed, finds any argument to normalize neo-fascists and incorporate them into conservative majorities. We'll see it in Spain if the PP wins the next elections, and we'll see it in Catalonia if Aliança Catalana gains ground and Junts and its allies need it. In a democracy, there's room for everyone. But to prevent them from ruining it, the far right must be kept in check. And the right and left must make the necessary pacts to prevent them from coming to power. But no, the right wing has already taken the step of recognizing the far right; it's already firmly within our ranks. Who will defend democracy?
