A Trump Victory will Supercharge Europe’s Far Right
The far-right’s win in Austria yesterday is a signal of what may come if Trump wins. A Trump victory would further galvanize the bloc’s populist parties and encourage their normalization — much as it.
Europe is being haunted — it’s being haunted by the specter of former U.S. President Donald Trump. This we know.
But what struck me most in the past three weeks traveling around the Continent was less the worry expressed about the economic and security implications of a possible Trump win, and more what his return would mean for European politics.
Compared to earlier in the year, most European officials appear to have finally come to grips with what a Trump presidency would mean for the Continent’s well-being. Most believe U.S. support for Ukraine would be weakened and that continued U.S. support for NATO would be questionable. There’s also widespread understanding that Trump would embark on a campaign of economic nationalism based on tariffs, protectionism and market exclusion, which would no doubt hurt their economies.
Thus, for the past few months, they’ve been making plans designed to “Trump-proof” European institutions and policies, emphasizing the need for Europe to spend more on defense, weapons production and military capabilities. There’s also plenty of talk about a more geostrategic approach to economic policy — not only vis-à-vis China but in case of an increasingly unilateralist and protectionist U.S.
All here realize the impact of a Trump presidency will be great, but there’s a growing sense that a Europe of 450 million people can handle these consequences. Except, perhaps, when it comes to domestic politics.
Truth is, a second Trump victory would have a profound impact on national politics in Europe, possibly supercharging the far-right populist parties and movements that embrace the same illiberal policies Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement have been championing for years.
Read the entire article in Politico.eu