It feels like both Russia and the United States are working to weaken or divide the EU. I can understand Russia’s motives, but the USA is not clear to me.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/09/donald-trump-civilisation-war-europe

Posted by NSVL

14 comments

  1. EU collective power is the only thing that can somewhat check American tech that US can do anything about.

  2. Maybe they hope its easier to bully one nation at a time? An alliance is hard to strong arm into a favorable trade deal.

  3. The moment you try to read more into this you lose the plot. It’s the oldest rule in the world. Divide and conquer. As weak and complacent as the EU is it’s a sizeable bloc. Break it apart and it’s just small countries that cannot resist a behemoth like the US. Russia is not as imposing but the calculus is the same.

  4. They wont. Not only do they lose their ally, that gave the US the clear hegemon status. They dont even curb the EUs legaslativ power. US Tech companies will still get fines/loose access to the european market. And now probably in a higher rate then before.
    US tech firms where not compatible with EU legislation since over a decade. But now is the first time I see real pushes to actually get rid of it or at least limit there influence.

    The US is literly pissing away all the soft power they expensivly build in the last 80 years.

    But all this doesnt matter for the current administration. The EU shows how it could be better. Be it for China or the USA. It is like Ukraine for russia. The exsistence is a fundamental threat to the current administration and they would rather burn down everything then allow it to persist.

    The only one in the US who can profit from it, is the current administration.

  6. The United States would benefit from big war in Europe, just like they did in 1918 and 1945.

  7. Trump made a cornerstone of his campaign on two key planks:

    * Cost of Living
    * Ending Russia-Ukraine War

    So far, he’s achieved neither. The last-ditch effort to get a deal in Moscow failed. Putin *gave them* his requirements. They presented it, and he still said no. It’s become clear Putin is happy to have Trump spinning in circles. Trump is mad because he feels that Ukraine is working against him; Russia is working against him and the Europeans are working against him. Hence is anger at Europe.

    The thing that I could see destroying Europe is purely internal. The EU is a monetary union, and not a fiscal one. Countries are supposed to keep their debt-to-GDP ratio at a certain rate and maintain debt thresholds, which apparently countries haven’t done; moreover, the EU has become a regulatory nightmare. It *is* impacting emerging technology adoption and while Europe sees itself as ascendent, the rest of the world doesn’t see it that way. Europe needs to really undo the regulatory issues; it needs to focus on costs and driving innovation, or countries will tire of the shackles and abandon it.

  8. Boggles the mind, when the US had it so good with Europe, and are destroying decades of goodwill and reliance for nothing. 

  11. The motive is that the US government has been for sale to the highest bidder for a long time now, and Trump is very easy to buy.

  13. The United States could only benefit by the break up of the European Union by enjoying a stronger Russia and maybe by a stronger and more active China.

    The United States under this leadership has become an unexpected vassal to Russia foreign policy.

    The next few years will determine on whether the United States can ever stand on its own again.

    At this point, it is seemingly like a country of 300 million people and the most well organized military on Earth is about fizzle into self destruction.

  14. The only nations that would benefit would be autocracies who are actively trying to expand their territories

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