US President Donald Trump considers Europe weak and divided. Former US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made this statement in an interview with Times Radio, calling on European leaders to stand up to Washington.
Points of attention
- Anthony Blinken calls on Europe to show Trump its unity and solidarity, as he perceives Europe as weak and divided.
- Blinken believes Trump considers strong leaders like Putin, Xi Jinping, Modi, Erdogan, and Mohammed bin Salman, while viewing Europe as a weaker player.
- The differences between Washington and Europe, according to Blinken, mainly concern the resolution of the war in Ukraine, with criticism towards Trump for not fulfilling his promise to end the war quickly.
Blinken called on Europe to show Trump its unity
He is confident that Trump considers strong leaders:
the illegitimate President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin,
Chinese President Xi Jinping,
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
Recep Erdogan from Turkey,
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia.
"Frankly, when he looks at Europe, I think he sees a continent that is not strong, that he thinks is not united, that is a weaker player. And so I think part of the challenge for Europe, for the president to take it seriously, is to demonstrate more cohesion, more unity, more common purpose, because then Europe has to be taken more seriously," Blinken said.
In addition, the former US Secretary of State assured that the main differences between Washington and Europe concern the issue of resolving the war in Ukraine. He also criticized Trump for not ending the war as soon as possible, breaking his own promise.
Remember, before President Trump took office, during the election campaign, he said he would solve the Ukraine problem in 24 hours, and here we are, no matter what, 120 days later — it didn't happen.
Anthony Blinken
Former US Secretary of State
In addition, he believes that Trump really wants to end the war in Ukraine, but is putting too much pressure on Kyiv and not enough pressure on Putin and Russia.
The former US Secretary of State added that since Trump came to power, some European allies have become wary of sharing intelligence with Washington. According to him, the situation has worsened after a series of leaks and because leading figures in the US administration have expressed admiration for Putin.
I think this cannot but cause concern.
