The Trumpian horn of plenty

With each passing day there is a new clash, a revised and expanded threat or an unprecedented gesture of contempt.

It would be as foolish as it would be counterproductive to ignore such an accumulation of grievances, to pretend that they are just the outbursts of a despot full of himself and fully aware of his immense power, would end up consolidating the image of a defeated Europe, which does not quite understand that the big brother and ‘protector’ of the transatlantic family has decided to wash its hands of it.

What's more, he has even presented us with a list of past grievances, which are said to have caused the supposedly unbreakable good relations between the two sides of the Atlantic to break down.

Trump has decided to step on the gas to turn the page as quickly as possible on the longest and most beneficial relationship, for both parties, of the shared values that made the West such a solid front, envied for its two most visible results: the freedom of its citizens and the prosperity resulting from the exercise of that freedom, both individually and collectively, which provoked the consequent resentment in its enemies.

Now, taking advantage of the celebration of his first Council of Ministers, President Trump has redoubled the intensity of his threats and his reproach of Europeans. Without the slightest embarrassment, he lectured his collaborators that ‘the EU was designed to harm the United States. That was the goal and they achieved it. But now I am the president...’ This was the argument to justify that ‘very soon’ Europe would have to face tariffs of 25% on its exports to the United States, thus insisting on one of the first announcements he made when he took office in the Oval Office of the White House.

Also by way of a preventive warning, Trump said that [the Europeans] might be tempted to take retaliatory measures, ‘but they won't because they know we are the horn of plenty, and such hypothetical retaliation would not work; it would be enough for us to stop buying from them, in other words, we would win’.

These bitter words were matched by an equally or even more unpleasant gesture: the snub by the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to his European counterpart, the Estonian Kaja Kallas, who had flown to Washington precisely in order to iron out differences over the alleged division of Ukraine between the Americans and the Russians. A stentorian diplomatic slap in the face of the EU, to which there can be no response by pretending not to be affected.

It seems that such an accumulation of details should be enough for Europe to admit the reality that it has been forced to act and behave like an adult. Knowing, first of all, that in the world around it there is none of the naive do-goodism of those who once advocated the end of history or the uselessness of maintaining a Ministry of Defence. As Kallas' predecessor, Josep Borrell, once said, ‘the EU must speak the language of power and change its diet quickly, because you can't be a vegetarian in a world ruled by carnivores’.

Putting this into practice requires a radical change in the European paradigm: to take up its own defence in the first place, and to promote the pacts and alliances that best suit its interests, which implies a reinforcement of its own unity - the taifas accentuate weakness and make it easy for the big ones to devour them effortlessly - and the corresponding assumption of greater responsibilities and the effort to fulfil them. 

And, of course, not to abandon their best values. ‘The European Union is the largest free trade market in the world, which, by the way, was a blessing for the United States,’ a European Commission spokesman replied to Trump, before adding that it ‘will respond strongly and immediately’ to the new customs taxes that the US president is threatening. 

When, during his first term in office, Trump also brandished tariffs as a weapon of war, the EU had the intelligence to respond by threatening to retaliate by increasing taxes on the famous Harley Davidson motorbikes and American Bourbon. To the more excitable, this seemed like a retaliatory joke. However, it was a more profound and studied provision than it seemed at first glance. Both the motorbikes and the whisky are manufactured in the so-called swing states, that is to say, in those where a few votes tip the final result and power towards the Democrats or Republicans. That had an effect and, although clouded, the waters returned to calm.

It will be more difficult now because the current Trump has redoubled his power and it will be more complicated to find his weak points. The highly paid bureaucrats in Brussels will have to work much harder, as will European citizens, who will have to accept the reality that they will have to make greater efforts to live the same or a worse life than before, although, of course, maintaining their dignity intact.