{"id":331216,"date":"2025-10-25T09:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T09:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/331216\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T09:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T09:16:14","slug":"europe-struggles-for-diplomatic-influence-amid-trumps-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/331216\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe struggles for diplomatic influence amid Trump’s foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 When President Donald Trump<\/a> took the stage in Egypt to hail the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal<\/a> between Israel and Hamas, a row of world leaders stood behind him like extras in a political drama.<\/p>\n

It was a telling image. European governments have struggled to play a significant role in diplomacy over the Gaza war, while the \u201cAmerica First\u201d leader has played a central one, pushing longtime allies in Europe toward the sidelines. <\/p>\n

Closer to home, they have labored with mixed results to shape Trump\u2019s response to Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s<\/a> obstinate pursuit of the Ukraine war, a conflict with profound consequences for the continent\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Europe able to influence Trump? I think the short answer \u2026 is no,\u201d said Lindsay Newman, a geopolitical risk expert and columnist for GZERO Media. \u201cThe policy and positioning of the U.S. government \u2013 on Ukraine, on Israel, on its relationship with Europe \u2013 is defined by the president and those around him. Largely the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newman said Trump\u2019s ambitious global agenda proves anyone wrong who thought \u201c\u2018America First\u2019 means a narrow, isolationist foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s remaking the world in his image,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Divisions \u2014 and some progress \u2014 over Ukraine<\/p>\n

European support for Ukraine against Russia\u2019s invasion has clashed with Trump\u2019s desire to end the conflict even if that means Kyiv giving up territory. The continent\u2019s leaders have had decidedly mixed results in trying to bolster the president\u2019s support for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Trump this week did finally pull the trigger and sanctioned Russia\u2019s oil and gas industry<\/a> following bipartisan pressure in Washington and months of lobbying by Kyiv and its European allies.<\/p>\n

But he appeared more motivated by frustration with Putin \u2014 unable to persuade the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> \u2014 than assuaging European countries, whom he has accused of undercutting their call for U.S. sanctions by continuing to purchase Russian oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don\u2019t go anywhere,\u201d an irritated Trump said on Wednesday. \u201cI just felt it was time. We waited a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Frustration with efforts to end the war<\/p>\n

Trump hasn\u2019t hidden his frustration at being unable to halt the 3 1\/2-year-old war, something he boasted on the campaign trail he would get done on Day One of his return to office.<\/p>\n

He has berated Zelenskyy<\/a> in the Oval Office, met Putin in Alaska<\/a> and sent envoys to Moscow and Kyiv, but has failed to push the two sides to the negotiating table. Yet days after the Putin meeting, Trump hosted Zelenskyy and top European leaders<\/a> at the White House and said the U.S. would be willing to support European efforts to police any peace deal in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Trump has hinted at giving Kyiv long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike inside Russia, but also seemed to back Putin\u2019s demand that Ukraine surrender all of its eastern Donbas region, including parts Russia doesn\u2019t occupy.<\/p>\n

The president and his team have argued that the biggest conflict on European soil since World War II has minimal significance to the United States, and urged Europeans to take on greater responsibility for ending the conflict.<\/p>\n

European leaders welcomed this week\u2019s oil and gas sanctions, which French President Emmanuel Macron called \u201ca turning point.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Europe has its own divisions over Ukraine. The 27-nation European Union is struggling to finalize a plan to use frozen Russian assets<\/a> as collateral for a massive loan to Ukraine. Belgium, where much of the money is held, is seeking assurances other countries will share the burden of any Russian economic retaliation.<\/p>\n

Hungary\u2019s Moscow-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/a> opposes EU support for Kyiv. Despite that, Gr\u00e9goire Roos, director of the Europe and Russia program at the international affairs think tank Chatham House, said there has been progress in forging a cohesive European position toward Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see absolute unanimity, but on the other hand, I didn\u2019t see unity crumbling significantly,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd as far as Europe is concerned, this is already a victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump focuses on the Middle East<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s influence on halting the Israel-Hamas war is even more tenuous.<\/p>\n

\u201cEurope has had no real impact, let\u2019s face it,\u201d Roos said, although Europe will be called on to give both money and expertise for Gaza\u2019s eventual reconstruction.<\/p>\n

The EU is the world\u2019s biggest provider of aid to Palestinians, but has little leverage over Israel \u2013 in part because European nations are divided over how to handle the conflict.<\/p>\n

Since forging the fragile ceasefire, which he hailed at an Oct. 13 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, as \u201ca once-in-a-lifetime chance to put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us,\u201d Trump and his team have heaped praise on Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. But he\u2019s been muted about Europe\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, even took to X to call a senior British government official \u201cdelusional\u201d for suggesting the U.K. had played a critical role in helping bring about the Gaza deal.<\/p>\n

The U.S. administration\u2019s irritation has been fueled in part by Britain and France joining several other countries last month to recognize a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

The ceasefire has at least temporarily turned down the volume on European criticism of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians\u2014 often tinged with implicit criticism of the United States\u2019 steadfast backing for Israel.<\/p>\n

Jonath Schanzer, a former terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, said the space created by the ceasefire could help put the U.S. and Europe on a better footing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump ceasefire brought the blistering European criticism to a murmur,\u201d said Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank. \u201cThis has enabled all parties to move ahead in a more constructive manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newman said Trump appears more interested in building relationships with countries across the Middle East than with Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been efforts to pivot away from the Middle East for successive U.S. administrations,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s almost as though there\u2019s a pivot toward the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some good news for Europe<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and its increasing belligerence toward neighboring NATO countries have been a wake-up call for Europe, made more alarming by Trump\u2019s longstanding threats not to defend European NATO members unless they stump up more money for their own defense.<\/p>\n

That got the desired response of pushing many European countries to increase military spending. <\/p>\n

The worst European fears about Trump\u2019s second term have not yet come to pass. Trump has not withdrawn U.S. troops from Europe or pulled out of NATO. His global tariff blitz has not resulted in the threatened 100% import taxes on European goods.<\/p>\n

Britain, which left the EU in 2020, is being drawn politically, economically and militarily closer to its European neighbors, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer has become a key conduit<\/a> between Washington and the continent.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Burk, emeritus professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, said Trump respects unity and that \u201cif the Europeans hang together,\u201d they can hope to have some influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump may have actually realized that it\u2019s always better to have allies than enemies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Madhani reported from Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 When President Donald Trump took the stage in Egypt to hail the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":331217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[69,8703,10102,16817,440,8697,57,164401,4527,6604,99,373,17723,37593,164400,28281,50,80,257,273,16815,274,3656,96,93,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-331216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-emmanuel-macron","10":"tag-energy-industry","11":"tag-eurocopa-2024","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-grgoire-roos","16":"tag-hamas","17":"tag-international-news","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-israel-hamas-war","20":"tag-keir-starmer","21":"tag-kyiv","22":"tag-lindsay-newman","23":"tag-mike-huckabee","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-politics","26":"tag-russia","27":"tag-ukraine","28":"tag-viktor-orban","29":"tag-vladimir-putin","30":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","31":"tag-war-and-unrest","32":"tag-washington-news","33":"tag-world","34":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}