The Trump administration “wants to divide Europe” with tactics used by the EU’s adversaries, the bloc’s chief diplomat has warned as capitals struggle to avoid rupture with an increasingly antagonistic Washington.
US President Donald Trump has used tariffs and economic threats, mulled the annexation of Greenland and leveraged Europe’s dependence on Washington for defence and security to coerce Brussels. His Maga movement has also extended its support to the continent’s far-right, populist and Eurosceptic parties.
“What I think is actually important for everybody to understand is that the US has been very clear that they want to divide Europe. They don’t like the European Union,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the FT, adding that Washington’s approach echoed tactics used by “our adversaries”.