A “humiliation”, “economic surrender” and rhetoric that “appears to have been stolen from the adult entertainment industry”.
These are just a small selection of Europeans’ reactions to how their leaders have kowtowed to Donald Trump — first for accepting the US president’s demand that Nato countries spend 5 per cent of national income on defence, then by endorsing a trade “deal” that leaves the EU much worse off than before.
When Trump returned to the White House, European leaders seemed unconvinced as to how to handle him. By now, their strategic choice is evident. It is accommodation rather than confrontation, accompanied by flattering rhetoric noisily praising Trump’s peace- and dealmaking prowess. The question is whether the loss in self-respect has been worth it. Speak to those close to the decision-making, and the refrain is that “no one is being naive here”. Instead, the plea is pragmatism.