Ursula von der Leyen was preparing to claim a rare victory on Saturday, sealing a trade pact with South America’s biggest economies. U.S. President Donald Trump had other ideas.
Moments before von der Leyen stepped to the podium in Paraguay, Trump dropped a blistering announcement: He was piling more tariffs on Europe over its support for Greenland.
As the European Union’s top executive, von der Leyen was suddenly in an unexpected spotlight as people waited to see if she would publicly rebuke the U.S. president’s latest threat to unravel alliances built over decades.