Von der Leyen is unlikely to defend Europeans from Trump
The EU's deferential German president, restricted by the blinders of her Atlanticist generation, has so far shown an inclination toward surrender in the face of the new American president's threats.
As Donald Trump prepares to enter the White House again today, he’s facing a world that looks dramatically different from the one he encountered on January 20th 2017. At that time the world was reacting to the shock victory of Donald Trump, who himself seemed surprised by the win, by closing ranks. The Republican establishment moved quickly to surround the new president with ‘adults in the room’ to restrain his worst impulses. Angela Merkel emerged as the purported new ‘leader of the free world’ in Europe. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was vowing to fight fire with fire with Trump’s floated punitive tariffs against the EU. The global democratic order was ready to fight back.
That is not happening this time around. As the New York Times wrote this weekend, “Defiance is out, deference is in”: “As he takes office again, Mr. Trump has discovered that he does not even have to take action to force his adversaries to adapt, back down or bend in his direction in a strategy of self preservation.” Domestically, America’s business, media and judicial institutions have quickly fallen into line behind Trump. The country is heading toward authoritarianism in a way which seems straight out of a history textbook. And internationally, there is no sign of the kind of resistance that we saw in 2017. A rudderless Europe with power vacuums in Germany and France has reacted with a collective shrug. Europe is surrendering, and that surrender is being led by the woman at the top: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.