Donald Trump has the same view of the European Union as most Americans and that is that the EU is not relevant and is going to fall apart. This is in large part influenced by the media, which broadcast attention getting headlines that the EU is going to collapse.
All previous US administrations have embraced the EU as helping to prevent war on their continent’s soil and also encourage the EU taking their part in the burden that has rested on the US’s shoulders for securing worldwide democracy and peace. US leaders have each repeated the same rhetoric when it has come to the EU. They all stood united on their position from president to president despite being Republican or Democrat. That is until Donald Trump.
Donald Trump aligned himself with the EU’s far right MEP Nigel Farage who headed the UKIP party and is the man responsible for BREXIT. Trump’s team also reached out to the right wing National Front in France, both of which advocate for the nation state and are anti-EU. They want to end the EU making decisions and writing the rules for their respective nations. They also highlight the EU’s undemocratic structure. They are anti globalist. Nigel Farage views the EU as a failed project and has predicted on several occasions the coming failure of the euro.
According to Euractiv, Donald Trump’s staff phoned EU officials and actually asked them which countries were going to leave next. This negative tone was further reinforced by Donald Trump’s staff sending a message to US ambassador to the EU; Anthony Gardner that he and other appointees must leave by inauguration day, which was an unprecedented move on the part of the new administration as past protocol usually allows them to stay on for a transition period. European Federalism and the accompanying European Movement- European Project have largely been ignored by the media and US administrations, but since embracing Nigel Farage, Trump took notice.
After Donald Trump’s interview with the London Times his anti EU stance was further confirmed and the media went wild with the news. Trump let it be known he would help BREXIT and negotiate a trade deal with the UK within 90 days. Afterwards Nigel Farage literally became drunk on Trump, which was evidenced during his radio show titled, “EU Elites Gutted by Trump’s Trade Deal Offer.”
In Nigel Farage’s December 14 speech to the EU Parliament he compared 2016’s events to the three wise men bearing their gifts. He called the gifts: the Brexit Deliverance, the Trump Triumph and the Italian Rebellion and stated, “its just that in this case the gifts were all the same, democracy and the rebirth of the nation state. He concluded, “A democratic revolution has begun.”
European Union officials on the other hand view Trump’s statements that NATO is obsolete and that countries that do not need to pay their share, along with his friendly overtures to Vladimir Putin as the end of NATO and American military support. This supported their resolve to go forward with their own army. In the face of the EU’s plans for its own army and military Nigel Farage stated, “The UK will act as the bridge between the US and the nation states of Europe to make sure NATO is secure. ” Farage is obviously wanting the US and the UK to bring the world geopolitically to the same place in time that existed as at the end of the Cold War in the Reagan, Thatcher era.
Within the interview Trump displayed his ignorance of EU affairs when asked several questions about the EU. Such as what number would be the number to phone to speak to the EU and he answered Merkels “is by far one of the most important leaders”, when in fact it would be EU Commission President Juncker, He also stated that the EU began in part to beat the US in trade, which was not the reason it formed, it formed to prevent another world war. Its economic union was a path to lend to its own strength to make Europe relevant on the world stage. Trump relayed a business experience in Ireland and his deal could not go forward because it was delayed by EU law, which he feels is a problem for the nation state.
EU, US relations and TTIP’s future are uncertain yet one fact is sure, EU leaders are shaken by Donald Trump and are reacting to the coming geopolitical shift his presidency will usher in with a call for greater unification. MEP and ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt stated to the EU Parliament on January 18, 2017, “An American president openly saying that other countries will break away from the European union, I have never seen it, never heard it, That is a wakeup call for us to reform the European union the fastest as possible.”
Verhofstadt stated on his Facebook Page:
“Trump is fueling EU disintegration, attempting to undermine Merkel and plans to nominate an ambassador who has only one quality: being a Brexit enthusiast. Europe must wake up. US support has been important for the EU integration for the past 60 years. But we’re on our own from here on. We must urgently reform the EU, deliver on key issues and become relevant for citizens. This is not just about the EU: it is about our freedoms, our way of life.”
Verhofstadt repeated on Twitter:
“I have never seen a US president saying the EU will fall apart. This is the moment for unity, reform, and integration.”
In another tweet:
“The turning point is here: Trump is openly against the EU and saying other countries will break away.”
Currently the EU and US have the largest bilateral trade relationship and enjoy the most integrated economic relationship in the world. According to the Delegation of the European Union to the United States, “Together accounting for nearly 30 percent of global merchandise trade, about 40 percent of world trade in services, and well over half of foreign direct investment. In 2012, 45 of 50 U.S. States exported more to Europe than to China – by a wide margin in many cases.” The EU-US economic relationship would further be enhanced by TTIP the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement would bolster the US economy by 0.4% of GDP and the EU economy by 0.5% of GDP. TTIP, now hangs in the balance. EU- US trade might be getting an overhaul under Donald Trump.
The question is what happens to the EU without the US support? It has taken a hit with BREXIT and now Donald Trump and the uncertainty of a Trump presidency.
The EU is a world power that has not punched up to its weight. It is like a young giant that is still growing. The European Union does not rely on the United States. The EU is the largest economy in the world. It is also the world’s largest trading block. It is the world’s largest trader of manufactured goods and services. The EU ranks first in both inbound and outbound international investments. In addition, the EU is the top trading partner for 80 countries, while the US is the top trading partner for only 20 countries.
The US since the 2008 financial crisis has generated uncertainty, the dollar’s erosion as the world’s reserve currency, its enormous deficit, and its experimental QE programs lent to the EU’s unsureness regarding the US and in response the EU embarked on greater investment in China.
China is the EU’s biggest source of imports by far, and has also become one of the EU’s fastest growing export markets. Trade in services are weak as are investment flows between both continents and they are looking to increase these areas and resolve the various issues. At the 16th EU-China Summit held in November 2013 both sides announced the launch of negotiations of a comprehensive EU-China Investment Agreement.
While the EU would prefer the conclusion of TTIP and the trade relations with the US, and the agreement once concluded would help the economies of both sides, without the US agreement the EU it is hedged via its agreements with other nations and most recently CETA, the comprehensive trade pact it just signed with Canada.
In end time Bible Prophecy we know that the EU is going to become the greatest most powerful world empire to have ever existed and it is going to be an economic powerhouse. Despite BREXIT and Donald Trump in Bible Prophecy the EU is still going to move forward despite taking these bumps. With Donald Trump as president there is a new sheriff in town and the era of EU, US relations has come to an end, but with the new president will come a geopolitical shift and the EU will continue to move forward even to the surprise of some EU officials.
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