Faced with U.S. President Donald Trump’s political and economic attacks over the past year, European leaders have responded with flattery, royal receptions, and promises to purchase more weapons and U.S. liquefied natural gas. But while many thought they had cracked the code for managing Trump, the U.S. attacks on Europe have only multiplied over time. Last month was Trump’s 28-point Russia-Ukraine war peace proposal, presented without consultation with Ukraine. Now, the U.S. National Security Strategy claims that Europe is in “economic decline” and experiencing “civilizational erasure,” and it openly endorses parties hostile to the European Union.

These are not disconnected impulses. Taken together, they converge into a strategy built to implement Trump administration’s geoeconomic ambitions: complete regulatory freedom for Silicon Valley tech companies in Europe and a commercial reset with Russia at the expense of Ukrainian and European sovereignty.

Faced with U.S. President Donald Trump’s political and economic attacks over the past year, European leaders have responded with flattery, royal receptions, and promises to purchase more weapons and U.S. liquefied natural gas. But while many thought they had cracked the code for managing Trump, the U.S. attacks on Europe have only multiplied over time. Last month was Trump’s 28-point Russia-Ukraine war peace proposal, presented without consultation with Ukraine. Now, the U.S. National Security Strategy claims that Europe is in “economic decline” and experiencing “civilizational erasure,” and it openly endorses parties hostile to the European Union.

These are not disconnected impulses. Taken together, they converge into a strategy built to implement Trump administration’s geoeconomic ambitions: complete regulatory freedom for Silicon Valley tech companies in Europe and a commercial reset with Russia at the expense of Ukrainian and European sovereignty.

Both the Trump administration’s desire to open Russia for U.S. investment and its wish to keep Europe open to U.S. tech companies require the same thing: a fundamental weakening of the EU. In working toward this goal, Europe’s far-right parties........

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