How Europe is preparing for ‘cold shower’ of second Trump presidency

Trump’s tariffs are motivated by his conviction that Europe is ripping off the US by running a trade surplus. That coloured his attitudes towards US security for Europe, said Prof Malcolm Chalmers, the deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London. “I think right at the top of the European concern is Ukraine and the future of Nato,” he said. The EU is fearful Washington will stop money and weapon supplies to Ukraine, and force an unjust peace deal on Volodymyr Zelensky, in which territory is ceded to Russia. “That’s part of Donald Trump’s playbook, to use the fear of what he might do in order to extract concessions,” Prof Chalmers said.