How Europe Is Navigating Trump

 

On Tuesday in New York, U.S. President Donald Trump gave headline writers a serious case of whiplash. In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump rebuked global institutions, questioned whether the U.N. should exist, told assembled leaders “your countries are going to hell,” and berated Europe for “buying oil and gas from Russia while they’re fighting Russia.” Hours later, he posted on Truth Social that he thought Kyiv was “in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form”—a statement that could be read as a significant evolution in his original posture toward Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

 

How is Brussels reading Trump’s involvement in Europe’s biggest war in a generation? On the sidelines of the U.N. meeting, I spoke with Kaja Kallas, the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy at the European Union, in front of a live audience at a Foreign Policy event. Kallas is also the former prime minister of Estonia. We spoke about how Brussels is navigating its relationship with Washington, the next steps in the war in Ukraine, Europe’s relationship with China, and the crisis in the Middle East. The full discussion can be watched in the video box atop this page, or on the FP Live podcast. What follows here is a lightly edited and condensed transcript.

 

Ravi Agrawal: Just a few hours ago, U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.” He went on to say, “Putin and Russia are in BIG economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.” Sounds like a real surprise, no?

 

Kaja Kallas: Sounds like a plan. We welcome those statements because this is what we have been saying the whole time. I met with the Ukrainians after their meeting with President Trump. They were very, very happy. It’s been a good day.

 

RA: Do you have a sense of what caused Trump to change his mind? Obviously, he had just met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but this isn’t the first time they’ve met. What’s your sense of what happened here?

 

KK: To my understanding, the Ukrainians’ message stayed the same during this meeting. Maybe he got the data about how the Russian economy is doing and how they are actually not winning this war. Maybe New York has positive effects on him. Whatever the reason is, we welcome those statements.

 

 

 

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